ReportageIf the winter rooms have not reopened for fifteen months, the open-air cinemas were authorized on Friday to welcome spectators again while respecting a gauge. The Athenians were there.
Nestled between buildings in the chic district of Kolonaki, in an Athenian courtyard drowned in vegetation, the Athinaia open-air cinema reopened its doors with great fanfare on the evening of Friday May 21, but with a gauge to be respected … Only 75% of seats can be occupied, masks are compulsory and intermissions which normally give spectators the opportunity to have a drink or a snack at the bar are eliminated.
Despite these restrictions, Athinaia’s white canvas chairs were stormed on Friday. Some find themselves on the floor and want to reserve their place for the next few days, a habit very little Greek …
In Athens, in summer, we usually let ourselves be carried away by the night. The scorching temperatures and the frenzy of the main arteries eventually guide us to one of the 90 terraces or gardens fitted out with a large screen. Only mosquitoes, cigarette smoke or car horns disturb this magical moment.
In the 1970s, when television was still not widely used in homes, there were more than 500 open-air cinemas operating from May to October. ” Attending a session under the stars or with the full moon is the cute sin of the Athenians, synonymous with the beginning of summer, and this tradition is not lost, even in times of pandemic ”, exclaims Peggy Rigga, owner of the Athinaia. In 2020, the 50-year-old could only open at the beginning of June with half of the 240 seats available. But, after strict confinement, she had seen the townspeople rush into theaters, and, again this season, she hopes to make a decent turnover.
A family matter
“Regulars, residents of the neighborhood called me, sent me messages; they were all looking forward to coming back after eight months of closure, continues Peggy Rigga. They want to find this ritual again. They are not even interested in the proposed film! ” It manages three other rooms, the Vox and the Riviera in the summer and the Avora in the winter. His father, Theodoros, was a teenager when he started working in an outdoor cinema, selling cigarettes, cleaning the yard, and then becoming the projectionist’s assistant.
“In 1969 he built the Riviera on land where a house had burned down. In 1971 he acquired the Vox which, since 1938, has never closed, not even during the German occupation, then, in 1979, the Athinaia. His whole life was devoted to cinema and, when he died, I could not give up my second homes ”, summarizes Peggy, yet an archaeologist by training.
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