Sit in the fresh air to watch a movie is a scene that is repeated -perhaps one of the most repeated- in squares and other spaces in the different districts of Madrid during the summer season. The summer cinemas, perhaps in part because they evoke those slow months of childhood with their clusters of chairs in the streets, enjoy a great popularity to which other factors contribute, such as the fact that they sometimes screen movies for free: this is the case of the Reina Sofia’s summer cinema, which returns from July 5 to August 31.
The screenings will take place at the Sabatini Garden on Fridays and Saturdays at 10pm. This year’s theme is “Cinema thinks cinema” and a total of 18 national and international films from different periods have been programmed, grouped into nine thematic Programs.
The opening session will be presented by Pedro Almodóvar on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the premiere of All About My Mother. Other female directors, such as María Aparicio and Bette Gordon, will also present their films through a video.
Free films at Reina Sofia, sorted by date
Actresses under construction I
- Friday, July 5. All about my mother, by Pedro Almodóvar (1999).
- Saturday, July 6. May December (Secrets of a Scandal), by Todd Haynes (2023).
Hollywood and its reverse side
- Friday, July 12. Sunset Boulevard (Twilight of the Gods), by Billy Wilder (1950).
- Saturday, July 13. Mulholland Drive, by David Lynch (2001).
So many Paradise Cinemas
- Friday, July 19. Il était une fois Beyrouth (Once upon a time in Beirut), by Jocelyn Saab (1955).
- Saturday, July 20. Mudos Testigos, by Luis Ospina and Jerónimo Atehortúa (2023).
The life of the artist I
- Friday, July 26th. Life in shadows, by Llorenç Llobet Gràcia (1949).
- Saturday, July 27th. Arrebato, by Iván Zulueta (1979).
Living by narrating, living by filming
- Friday, August 2. Otsoga Diaries, Maureen Fazandeiro and Miguel Gomes (2021).
- Saturday, August 3. Las cosas indefinidas, by María Aparicio (2023).
The last cinemas
- Friday, August 9. Variety (The Glass Cell), by Bette Gordon (1983).
- Saturday, August 10. Paradise, by Omar A. Razzak (2013).
Actresses under construction II
- Friday, August 16. Jane B. by Agnès V., by Agnès Varda (1988).
- Saturday, August 17. The Watermelon Woman, by Cheryl Dunye (1996).
The life of the artist II
- Friday, August 23rd. Bergman Island, by Mia Hansen-Løve (2021).
- Saturday, August 24. Sullivan’s Travels, by Preston Sturges (1941).
Comedy
- Friday, August 30. Sherlock Jr (The Modern Sherlock Holmes), by Buster Keaton (1965).
- Saturday, August 31. The Patsy (Jerry Calamity), by Jerry Lewis (1964).
Tickets
Access to the free films at the Reina Sofia summer cinema is free until full capacity is reached, but tickets must be reserved in advance. Tickets will be available on the museum’s website from 10 am every Wednesday prior to each weekend (maximum two per person).
Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the film and there is a 20% reserved capacity to attend the same day of the screening without the need to pick up a ticket.