Who would think of opening a cinema in the age of platforms? And with free admission? And inside a museum in Madrid? The answer is the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Calle de Santa Isabel, 52), after works that we could say have been a pregnancy: they have lasted 9 months and have given birth to the Museum Cinema in the place where until now was located the old auditorium of the Sabatini Building.
The adaptation works have resulted in aspects such as an improvement of the acoustics of the room and furniture or the installation of a new image and sound system for digital cinema, “which will coexist with a film projection system, both 35 mm and 16 mm, and a 5.1 sound system,” explained from the museum.
This new free cinema in Madrid, in which 856,000 euros have been invested from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), was inaugurated just a few days ago and already has its first cycle of projections under the title Cine, año cero. Images of our time.
Inaugural cycle of the new free cinema in Madrid.
The first cycle of the hall began last April 10 and will run until May 31, 2025. The screenings will take place from Thursday to Saturday at 7 pm and admission is free until full capacity is reached: tickets can be picked up on the museum’s website or at the box office.
In case there are no more tickets available for the film you want to go see, there is still hope: 20% of the capacity -which by the way is 133 spectators- is reserved to attend without collecting a ticket on the day of the activity. You can check the complete program and ticket availability at this link.
Another cinema that opened against the tide
The Reina Sofía is not the only cinema that has opened against all odds in the capital, and perhaps the best example of this is the Cines Embajadores, which in the midst of the pandemic gave Arganzuela a new neighborhood cinema. The rest is history: not only have they become one of the meeting points of the area and an interesting and solvent cultural proposal, but also in this time they have grown, opening new theaters.