Astor Cinema
KOSTAS TZOUMAS / EUROKINISSI
The fight to save the three historic cinemas ASTOR, IDEAL and IRIDA in the center of Athens, with the request that they be declared preserved and to prevent their sale for private business exploitation, is well underway.
In this context, two more influential personalities of the country, from the field of art and politics, the multi-awarded and internationally acclaimed director George Lanthimos and the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou are included.
With a short video or a post on her social media account, they are asking what every person who loves the art, culture and history of Athens is asking for.
Giorgos Lanthimos spoke in his video about the need to declare endangered historical cinemas preserved. The director expressed his support for the fight and described as self-evident the preservation of their value in the center of Athens. He called on all the authorities to take measures to prevent the sell-off.
“The desertion of the Stadium hurts us. The burned building that housed “Apollo” and “Attikon” remains an unhealed trauma in the urban fabric. “Ideal”, “Astor”, “Iris” are in danger. We are losing cinemas that introduced us to the “secrets of cinema like the magic of poetry”, as Andreas Empirikos wrote, introducing us to great creators who distilled the lyrical essence of life in their images. We lose the mystique of the room, the charm of the collective experience. We are losing spaces that were not just screening rooms, but arks of culture. As they are cut off, one by one, from the body of the city, as well as other historical meeting places, old cafes or restaurants that were once capacitors of the Athenian intellectual life, gradually the memory of the city is also lost,” wrote the President of the Republic on her Facebook account.