2024-02-25 11:31:53
The neon light of the Capitol was able to shine brightly once more on Friday evening in Lausanne. An official opening ceremony celebrated the renovation and expansion of the legendary cinema. The Swiss Cinematheque now has two theaters there for nearly 900 seats.
After three years of work, the emblematic establishment of the Vaud capital has regained its former splendor. The Cinémathèque and the City of Lausanne invited some 730 people for this inauguration evening, including Swiss directors and actors. The guests were able to freely visit the premises and enjoy an aperitif offered by the Lausanne authorities.
“It is with great pride, emotion and happiness that we saved this room and that we are inaugurating it this evening (…) A small miracle for a large room. The rebirth of the Capitol,” declared the trustee of the City of Lausanne Grégoire Junod during a series of speeches on stage.
Of soul and magic
“We celebrate the soul and magic of an exceptional place,” said Vaud State Councilor in charge of culture Nuria Gorrite. She recalled the importance of such cinema as “an essential place of sharing, of living together”.
For his part, the director of the Swiss Cinematheque Frédéric Maire has already promised surprises, such as the screening of films with the presence in the room of a symphony orchestra.
In the large, brand new historic hall, other personalities also spoke, such as Jean Studer, president of the Swiss Cinematheque, Olivier Steimer, president of the Fondation Capitole and Yves Fischer, deputy director of the Office Federal Ministry of Culture (OFC). Everyone praised an architectural and heritage gem.
“The Little Lady of the Capitol”
The guests were then treated to a screening of “La petite dame du Capitole” (2005), in the historic hall of the Capitole, the largest in Switzerland. The documentary by director Jacqueline Veuve is a portrait of the former owner of the Capitol, “Mademoiselle” Lucienne Schnegg.
Hired in 1949, she took over the management of the cinema in 1956 until 2010, when the establishment was purchased by the City of Lausanne. She died at the age of 90 in May 2015. She was cited many times during speeches.
The evening was to end with a musical part (DJ vinyl set) in the second and new foyer of the Capitole, near the second room, in the basement.
The grand opening celebration continues this weekend, with two open days featuring tours of the premises (Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) and screenings.
Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m., Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” will be shown in a 70 mm version, a new copy of the original. The session is already full. Sunday at 5:00 p.m., time for laughter with Yves Robert’s comedy, “The Big Blond with a Black Shoe”, with actor Pierre Richard (also sold out).
Buache and Schnegg rooms
Inaugurated in 1928, the cinema, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in four years, is experiencing a new “great revolution” following the transformations of 1959. Started in 2021, the renovation and expansion work has enabled the creation in the basement a second cinema room and a new foyer with contemporary architecture.
The renovated spaces now also accommodate a consultation room for the archives of the Swiss Cinematheque, a boutique and a small specialized bookstore, a café-bar and an elevator. Total cost of these three years of construction: 21.6 million francs.
The large hall, still as imposing as it is elegant, with its balcony and small boxes, has regained all the splendor of its 1950s aesthetic. It now bears the name of the legendary director and pioneer of the Swiss Cinematheque, Freddy Buache. It can accommodate 736 people.
Named following Lucienne Schnegg, the new room can accommodate 140 people. It will allow the Swiss Cinematheque to develop and diversify its activities by allowing films to be shown for longer and to present two different films in the two theaters. The number of screenings will thus be able to increase in strength and exceed the three daily screenings of the Montbenon “epoch” Cinémathèque.
This article was automatically published. Source: ats
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