Several cinemas, theaters, and performance venues in Bucharest announced they were reopening after the 14-day coronavirus infection rate dropped below 3 per 1,000 inhabitants.

Elvire Popesco cinema at the French Institute will restart the indoor film screenings on January 29, after four months of closure. Only 54 seats (30% of the cinema hall's capacity) will be available.  

The first film to be screened is Hirokazu Kore-eda's La Vérité, starring Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, and Ethan Hawke. It is the first film Kore-eda, the winner of the 2018 Palme d'Or for Shoplifters, made outside of Japan. Other films in the program are Ivan Ostrochovský's Servants, staring Romanian Vlad Ivanov, Nicolas Bedos's La Belle Epoque, Manele Labidi's Un Divan à Tunis, and Radu Ciorniciuc's Acasă/ My Home.

All screenings take place in keeping with current norms, including disinfection, mask-wearing, and distancing.

Happy Cinema reopened its halls in Bucharest, Bacău, Buzău, Bistrița, Alexandria, and Focșani on January 25, also at 30% of the capacity and tickets priced at RON 11 (EUR 2.25). Among the films in the program are May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts, La Belle Epoque, Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You, and The Craft: Legacy, directed by Zoe Lister-Jones.

Nottara Theater reopens on January 27. The first scheduled performances are Aici nu-i de joacă (This is no game), based on a text by Pauline Daumale, directed by Catrinel Dumitrescu; Norm Foster's Praf de stele/Here on the Flight Path, directed by Lucian Sabados; and Thailand by Dimitris Kechaidis and Eleni Chaviara, directed by Alexandru Jitea. The performance opens at 30% of its capacity, with the seats taken on a first-come, first-served basis, the institution said in a press release.

Ion Dacian Operetta and Musical Theater reopens on January 31, with a Gala of Romanian Operetta, a performance gathering various soloists, orchestras, choir, and ballet ensembles.

(Photo: Pixabay)

simona@romania-insider.com