Bologna, reopens historic Cinema Modernissimo, a jewel closed for nearly 20 years

In Bologna, after almost twenty years since its closure, the historic Modernissimo cinema reopens, thanks to the action of the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna , which wanted to return to the city the symbolic movie theater, which was inaugurated in 1915 in the multifunctional building of Palazzo Ronzani, in the heart of the city. Designed by engineer and set designer Gualtiero Pontoni (Bologna, 1875 - Riccione, 1941), the hall was active for ninety years, with ups and downs, until its final closure in 2007.

Sumptuousness, elegance and modernity, which were from the beginning the peculiarities of this space, thus return to characterize the hall also thanks to the contribution of the great set designer Giancarlo Basili, a choice that, as Gian Luca Farinelli, director of the Cineteca di Bologna, says, derives from the fact that, beyond of already well-known fine architecture, “we needed an artist who would make us dream and make the Modernissimo the place of surprise, an Atlantis of the spectacle.”

The recovery project is part of a new international focus on early 20th-century cinemas that has already led to the recovery of buildings of historical, artistic, and cultural importance such as the Majestic Theatre in New York, the Cinema Louxor in Paris, the Metro Kino in Vienna, and the Théâtre de l’Eden in Marseille. The project is also a statement of confidence about the good health of cinema: in fact, the Foundation’s goal is to offer the public a unique theater from a scenic-aesthetic point of view in which to ideally continue the programming of great masterpieces from the history of cinema.

The date to mark in the calendar is Tuesday, November 21: on that day, in fact, the Modernissimo will reopen its doors, as announced by the Municipality of Bologna, Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna and Confindustria Emilia Area Centro. It is a date eagerly awaited by the citizens of Bologna and by the many international cinephiles who in recent years have passionately followed the development of a construction site that will restore Cinema Modernissimo to its early 20th-century beauty. And among these many international cinephiles will be Martin Scorsese, who in fact inaugurated the reopening of the theater.

On the occasion of his public meeting in Bologna last June to launch the major retrospective that the Cineteca has dedicated to his monumental filmography and which will continue at the Cinema Lumière from next September 17, Martin Scorsese in fact “baptized” the Cinema Modernissimo, participating in a visit and a short screening designed and made for him, featuring pearls of the silent era restored by the Cineteca di Bologna. Scorsese was able to admire a movie theater that will become, the Cineteca emphasizes, “a pearl in the heart of Bologna for the whole city and for all those who love Cinema.”

Bologna, reopens historic Cinema Modernissimo, a jewel closed for nearly 20 years

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