Florence, Giunti Odeon, a unique bookstore opened today

A very special bookstore opened to the public today in Florence : it is Odeon joints, a project with which the Giunti publishing house has revived a historic hall in the Tuscan capital, the Cinema Odeon. Giunti calls it “a unique bookstore in the world, in a place steeped in art and history. ”Odeon joints is both a bookstore and a cinema, the latest chapter in a story that began in the early twentieth century, when a movie theater was opened in the Palazzo dello Strozzino in Piazza Strozzi. A 1,500-square-meter space, designed by architect André Benaim, to house books, cinema, music, art, and theater.

The restoration was sponsored by the Germani family, which has operated the cinema since 1936, in collaboration with Giunti Editore. Inside Odeon joints can be found a 198-seat movie theater, two screens that will operate during the day and evening, and a bookstore that finds a place in the stalls. Giunti has already let it be known that the new space will not only be a cinema but also a place where exhibitions (the first, starting Dec. 10, will be a solo show by painter Massimo Giannoni), meetings, book presentations, concerts, and readings will be held. The cinema will also offer shows in the original language and with subtitles. There will also be study and reading rooms, and a cafeteria restaurant.

Odeon joints was inaugurated today, Nov. 4, at 4 p.m., in the presence of Sergio Giunti, president of Giunti Editore, Eugenio Giani, president of the Region of Tuscany, Dario Nardella, mayor of Florence, and Antonella Ranaldi, Soprintendente archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio for the Metropolitan City of Florence. “In a palace rich in history and beauty,” Sergio Giunti told Ansa, “Odeon joints aims to be more than a cinema and more than a bookstore: a vital space open to dialogue between the many voices of the city and the nation, a meeting place for diverse and cosmopolitan cultural experiences, as it has always been in Florence’s best international tradition.”

Giunti

Giunti

Recently, the opening of Odeon joints has also been at the center of controversy: a Change.org petition addressed to the authorities (which received over 6,000 signatures) was also launched in May 2022 expressing concern of the project as it was feared to be transformed into a “multipurpose facility” that initially seemed to exclude the cinema. Indeed, the petition emphasized that “seeing a film in the movie theater is a magical and indispensable collective experience. A ritual in which the aesthetics and architectural structure of the cinema play a fundamental role. Each of us knows the enormous difference between seeing a movie in a neutral multi-screen hall or at the Odeon Cinema, with the charm of its monumental Deco ambience, the inlaid columns, the large velvet chairs, the half-lights before the projection that illuminate the dome window. To insert commercial elements or contemporary structures into this environment would mean irreparably altering these balances, which have survived unchanged for 100 years.” In the end, in short, a mediation was found: the hall was transformed, but Florentines and all those visiting the city will still be able to see films at the Odeon, which will retain its historic function.

Indeed: there is already a busy schedule. Odeon joints’s approximately 680 square meters of exhibition space, accommodating more than 1,200 meters of shelving and more than 25,000 titles on offer, will be open seven days a week, both as a bookstore and as a cinema, from 8:30 a.m. until the end of the last evening screening. It starts with Comandante, the film by Edoardo De Angelis starring Pierfrancesco Favino that tells the story of Commander Todaro and the submarine Cappellini, with the 4K restored version of the cult film The Big Lebowski, and with two blockbuster films such as Kenneth Branagh’s The Eight Mountains and Murder in Venice.

There is also already, as anticipated, cultural programming, curated by Artistic Director Gabriele Ametrano, ranging from book presentations to art exhibitions, from concerts to read alouds to reading workshops for young children. International guests are expected: starting on Monday, Nov. 13, for World Kindness Day, with a lectio by wildlife biologist Daniel Lumera and a documentary featuring a dialogue between Lumera, Felicia Cigorescu and other guests. On Nov. 15, Strega Prize-winning author Paolo Cognetti (the author of The Eight Mountains: in fact, there will be a screening of the film after the meeting) will present his book Giù nella valle, in dialogue with Stefano Mancuso. On Friday, November 17, there will be Fabio Volo presenting his book Tutto è qui per te (Everything is here for you), on Tuesday, November 21, it will be the turn of Laura Imai Messina with her book Il Giappone a colori (Japan in color), and in the following weeks there will be Antonio Scurati, Chiara Rapaccini, Francesco Guccini, Maurizio De Giovanni, among others.

Florence, Giunti Odeon, a unique bookstore opened today

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.