As some of you know, I am heading up a small campaign to save the CINE ESTELI from development. A 1950s single screen cinema that sits in the town centre of the northern Nicaraguan town of Esteli, the cinema has survived two civil wars, several hurricanes and even earthquakes but face its biggest obstacle yet: property developers who would demolish it and convert the site into a supermarket.
Thankfully, the cinema has some friends. These incredibly talented people have all signed up as patrons: Dukes' supporter Greta Scacchi attended our fundraiser in December; Ken Loach, Robert Carlyle and screenwriter Paul Laverty all worked in Esteli while shooting CARLA'S SONG (which incidentally had its premiere at the Cine Esteli 15 years ago) and Alex Cox spent time in Nicaragua in the 80s and made the fantastic film WALKER there.
The cinema has been operating in some capacity since it opened 50 years ago with a strange mix of the mainstream, exploitation, cult, foreign language and everything else under the sun (or the dark room). I personally saw films like BLUE VELVET and Kurosawa'a RAN there.
Our next fundraiser will be at The Dukes sometime in May (watch this space) and we'll be asking for your help once again. In the meantime, if anyone can help with some web design, make yourselves known to me!
In a world where single screen cinemas are rare, the Cine Esteli's very existence is a miracle that needs to be treasured and preserved.
Posts
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteThought you might be interested to learn that the oldest, longest-operating cinema in the UK is due to turn 100 on 22 September.
The Duke of York’s in Brighton has launched a nationwide hunt to track down movie memorabilia from its patrons over the years and build a real social history of what it was like to visit the picture house throughout the past century.
Drop me a line if you’d like to find out any further info – collette (at) midnight.co.uk
Collette.