'Cinema em Festa' brings cheaper tickets in almost all districts

' Cinema em Festa', scheduled for Monday to Wednesday, is an annual initiative by the Portuguese Association of Cinematographic Companies (APEC), with tickets being sold for 3.5 euros for all films being shown in participating cinemas, part of the Portuguese exhibition network.

A source from APEC explained to Lusa that more than 420 cinemas in mainland Portugal, the Azores and Madeira have joined this initiative, with the exception of cinemas in the districts of Beja and Portalegre.

"Since joining 'Cinema em Festa' is voluntary, the fact that two districts are not covered is because, to date, there has been no joining of cinemas in these locations, which normally have auditoriums that occasionally show films", explained the association.

According to the most recent data from the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA), relating to April, cinema exhibition in Portugal has 528 screens, with a total of 101,557 seats, with the largest market share (41.3%) being held by the exhibitor NOS Cinemas.

A source from ICA explained to Lusa that of the 18 districts in mainland Portugal, only two - Bragança and Portalegre - do not have privately managed venues, but are managed by their respective municipal councils. And Beja "only has a small venue operated by private individuals".

This year, at 'Cinema em Festa', the organization has partnered with the Portuguese Cinema Academy so that the feature films nominated for this year's Sophia Award for Best Film will return to cinemas during these three days.

Thus, in addition to the films that are currently showing, 'Grand Tour', by Miguel Gomes, 'A Flor do Buriti', by João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora, 'Your Face Will Be the Last', by Luís Filipe Rocha, and 'Revolution (without) Blood', by Rui Pedro Sousa, will be shown again.

Other Portuguese productions are still showing, namely 'The Savannah and the Mountain', by Paulo Carneiro, 'Camarada Cunhal', by Sérgio Graciano, the documentary 'The Citizens' Palace', by Rui Pires, and 'Sonhar com leões', by Paolo Marinou-Blanco, which premiered this week.

On the official page, APEC indicates that the participating cinemas are those of the exhibitors NOS Cinemas, UCI, Cineplace, Castello Lopes and Cinema City, and the cinemas Cinebox (Castelo Branco), Cinema Trindade (Porto), Cinema Ideal and Cinema Fernando Lopes, both in Lisbon, Teatro Miguel Franco (Leiria), Auditório Salgado Zenha (Coimbra), Casa do Cinema de Coimbra and Cinemax (Penafiel).

In a press release, APEC's general director, Fernando Ventura, states that this initiative aims to "bring together the various cinema agents around an initiative that contributes to the development of the various aspects of Cinema in Portugal, namely directing, production, distribution and exhibition".

According to the ICA, in 2024 a cinema ticket cost an average of 6.19 euros and cinema screenings attracted 11.8 million spectators and 73.3 million euros in box office revenue.

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