Arts Cinema to open this year

The Arts Cinema will open by the end of this year near St. Paul Ruins, as the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has already launched the construction works.
According to yesterday’s local Portuguese-language newspaper Ponto Final, the bureau rented two buildings located at Travessa da Paixão from local associations Tung Sin Tong and Chonggyi Tang.
The buildings are currently undergoing refurbishment to become a three-storey cinema with 67 seats.
The bureau said that works would be undertaken in several phases, in order to maintain the original façades and to not destroy the cultural surroundings of the area.
The Arts Cinema was one of the measures announced by secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Cheong U, during his 2012 Policy Address at the Legislative Assembly.
The IC says that the new facility will screen films, keep video recordings and sell cultural and creative industries products. It will also include a restaurant serving light meals. The cinema will hold workshops and cinema series as well.
Its main goal is “to promote the film and television industries in Macau,” to “create an environment for the local development of video arts and increase the number of viewers,” the IC said.
Also in the 2012 Policy Address, the project for the two buildings at Travessa da Paixão includes a museum on local wedding traditions. The government wants to create a cultural hub in that location.