Goodbye Kinéma

AGRIGENTO – After more than ten years of activity, the “ Kinéma – cinema and visual arts ” festival announces its closure . An event that has been able to liven up the Agrigento summer, transforming the open-air “ arena ” into a cultural reference point, stops due to the lack of support from local authorities.

The decision, as stated in a note released by the organizers themselves, comes after the observation that, despite the interest from the public, the institutions of Agrigento , the Municipality and the Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples , have shown no interest in financing the event. This, despite the fact that Kinéma has always proposed a quality cultural offer, free and accessible to all, without ever seeking low-cost visibility or pandering to mainstream trends.

“We have never sought easy consensus, but we have preferred direct communication , far from political and clientelistic logic,” explain the organizers. Their fault, perhaps, is that of not having “waited in the local political offices”, refusing to participate in power games, choosing instead to focus on genuine and profound culture .

A year after the start of Agrigento Capital of Culture 2025 , the new decree on funding has not included Kinéma among the beneficiaries of a public contribution, a fact that the organizers judge as a sign of a system that confuses culture with entertainment . “ Entertainment can generate culture, but it is not the same thing,” they emphasize, “ true culture is silent, it is not celebrated, it does not seek consensus, it acts in depth.”

Leonardo Picarella , creator and organizer of Kinéma, denounces this situation and criticizes the decision to favor the Efebo d'Oro festival – a Palermo event that received a funding of 100,000 euros . “The Efebo d'Oro is now a festival rooted in Palermo and, despite having a strong emotional and professional bond with Agrigento, it is returning for a temporary edition,” says Picarella, underlining that this return without a long-term vision nullifies the use of public funds , which should instead be allocated to projects that remain rooted in the Agrigento area .

Leonardo Picarella continues: “We thought that the merit and the results would speak for themselves, but evidently we were wrong.” The closure of Kinéma comes with the bitter regret of not having been supported by local cultural policy , which has, according to Picarella, confused cultural entrepreneurship with short-term entertainment .

The closing of the festival comes with the hope of a possible return in the future, if the citizens and local realities will collect the legacy of Kinéma. In ten years, the festival has hosted personalities of the caliber of Letizia Battaglia , Pietrangelo Buttafuoco , Antonio Rezza , and many others, marking an important presence in the cultural scene of Agrigento .

An appeal to all those who believe in culture : “If Agrigento wants to take back Kinéma, we will be ready to return.”

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