Cyprus Mail 21 May 2020- by Eleni Philippou
Rialto Theatre will start its summer season on June 17 promising a range of activities including drive-in cinema and open air concerts. The theatre has rescheduled its programme of events taking necessary safety measures and.
Events will take place in the parking place where the theatre has successfully organised open-air cinema the past few summers. Ensuring compliance with all safety measures, Rialto will this summer set a huge outdoor screen against SEK’s parking place, inviting the audience to a unique drive-in cinema experience.
The screenings will start in mid-June and include recently-released films that received multiple awards for their originality, tenderness and artistic quality, Rialto said. These will include Spanish Affair, La belle Époque, And Then We Danced, The Brand New Testament, and Les Invisibles.
Rialto will also showcase prize winning films directed by Cypriot filmmakers released during the past two years. Specifically, the drive-in cinema will screen Siege on Liperti Street by Stavros Pamballis, awarded at last year’s Thessaloniki Film Festival; Smuggling Hendrix by Marios Piperides, which received multiple awards and international distribution, as well as Small White Envelopes by Sotiris Christou, which was selected to participate in Cyprus Film Days International Festival 2019. For cinephiles who wish to watch the films in the traditional way, Rialto will ensure the designated 2-metre safety distance between seats.
From the beginning of July, the Rialto’s summer programme will be enriched with a series of concerts and performances following Rialto World Music Festival and FlashArt@Rialto Open Calls, addressed to artists who are either Cypriots or permanent residents of Cyprus. These will be performed on a special stage that will also be set in the parking place.
SEK’s parking place was deemed more appropriate than the Heroes’ Square location where the theatre has traditionally held its summer events since Rialto will be able to properly control the events and the entrance of the audience, thus ensuring compliance with the relevant governmental directives on health and safety.
“The re-scheduling and implementation of Rialto’s summer programme,” the theatre said, “would not have been possible without SEK granting the use of its parking place during the evening hours or the invaluable support of EventPro in terms of infrastructure and know-how.”
Summer at Rialto
Drive-in cinema and open-air concerts. June 17 onwards. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. www.rialto.com.cy
