Cine África

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Cine África (2014)
Lettering of the cinema

The Cine África , rarely advertised as Cinema África , is a former cinema in the Mozambican capital Maputo . The cinema, which opened in 1948 under the name “Cinema Manuel Rodrigues”, is located on Avenida 24 de Julho in the Central B district, in the center of the city. Today it is mainly used as a place for concerts and dance performances.

architecture

The building is particularly noteworthy for its striking Art Deco facade. A slender tower-like porch that slightly towers above the building divides the front of the building into two parts; the name of the cinema can be read on both sides of the turret (to this day) in vertical writing. A delicate pink dominates the colored facade design.

With its elongated balconies, the static sun protection louvers arranged one above the other , the massive window cornice and some linear plaster structures on the top floor, as well as the canopy with light band protecting the main entrance , the building shows a strictly horizontal structure with an expressive effect.

On the two side areas of the central structure, two powerful corner projections with prominently protruding pilaster-like and bulging window friezes close off the building, which reinforces the impression of the building's block-like cubature .

history

The Cine África was opened on May 5, 1948 under the name "Cinema Manuel Rodrigues" by the two brothers César and Manuel in memory of their father Manuel Augusto Rodrigues, who died on March 10, 1944. Rodrigues came to the colony in 1897 in search of a better life and, among other things, opened and managed the Teatro Gil Vicente cinema.

In its time, the cinema was considered one of the best in Lourenço Marques . It had a capacity of 1500 viewers and could show 70-millimeter films . Numerous film premieres took place in his cinema. Inside the building is also a small cafe called was Manuel Rodrigues accommodated, the first thing in the colonial capital of a Cimbali - espresso machine possessed. The cinema is mainly reserved for whites, Joaquim Chissano , former President of Mozambique, describes in his book "Vidas, Lugares e Tempos" a situation in his youth in which he was deliberately not allowed in accompanied by his (white) sports group.

The cinema was called “Cine África” since the early 1960s. Even after Mozambique gained independence in 1975, the cinema retained its function. The ruling FRELIMO party used it at that time mainly to show films it had made itself, in order to propagate its political goals and to encourage the creation of a national identity according to its ideas.

Since the end of the 2000s, the building no longer functions primarily as a cinema, but is used for all kinds of other events, such as concerts and performances. A bar has now been set up in the rooms of the former café on the ground floor.

Since 2011 the building has been part of the pre-selection for a list of monuments for the city of Maputo. It is listed under the number 31986 in the Portuguese monument database Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico , which also includes objects in former Portuguese colonies.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maputo - Cine África, Bairro Central. In: Lusotropicalizando. February 14, 2014, accessed September 27, 2014 (Portuguese).
  2. ↑ António Feio: Livro de Ouro do Mundo Português - Moçambique . S. 68 ( omrmz.org ).
  3. ↑ a b c Salas de Cinema - Manuel Rodrigues. In: O Rato Cinéfilo. February 11, 2011, accessed September 27, 2014 (Portuguese).
  4. ↑ Joaquim Alberto Chissano: Vidas, Lugares e Tempos . 1st edition. Texto Editores, Maputo February 2010, p. 209 f . (Portuguese, macua.blogs.com [PDF; accessed September 28, 2014]).
  5. ↑ Será que os moçambicanos (já) aprenderam a valorizar a sua música? In: A Verdade. October 25, 2012, Retrieved September 27, 2014 (Portuguese).
  6. ↑ Noite de Bailado celebrou Dia Mundial da Dança. In: Sapo.mz. April 30, 2010, accessed September 27, 2014 (Portuguese).
  7. ^ Tiago Lourenço: Cinema Manuel Rodrigues / Cine-África. In: Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico (SIPA). 2011, accessed September 27, 2014 (Portuguese).

Coordinates: 25 ° 57 ′ 57.9 ″  S , 32 ° 34 ′ 29.3 ″  E