Splendid Palace cinema in Riga included in list of Treasures of European Film Culture

RIGA - The European Film Academy has added ten new venues to the list of Treasures of European Film Culture, including Splendid Palace cinema in Riga, Janis Bunte, representative of Rigas Nami housing manager, told LETA.

The Treasures of European Film Culture are part of the European Film Academy's expanded film heritage activities, which started in 2022. The list includes sites of symbolic importance and historical value in the life of European cinema.

Currently, 70 sites are included in the list of the Treasures of European Film Culture. Latvia is represented on the list by the Mezaparks Grand Stage and now also by Splendid Palace cinema.

Splendid Palace is one of Europe's oldest cinemas, operating since 1923. The building has always been a cinema, which is why Splendid Palace has retained its historic appearance and value as an architectural landmark.

Ildze Eglina, the manager of Splendid Palace, noted that the recognition not only confirms the historical importance of the cinema, but also its contribution to the preservation and development of cinema culture in Latvia and Europe.

The new additions to the list of the Treasures of European Film Culture include also the historical cinemas Bio Skandia in Stockholm, Kino International in Berlin, Kinostudio Shqiperia e Re in Tirana and the Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kyiv, shooting locations like Stalker’s Path in Tallinn, the power station in Vemork and the Roman Well in Belgrade as well as Kaunas City Museum where puppet animation film was born and the Krzysztof Kieslowski Archive in Sokolowsko.

The plaque certifying the cultural treasure of European cinema will be officially unveiled at the Splendid Palace cinema on August 19 in the presence of representatives of the European Film Academy.

The owner of Splendid Palace and Melngalvju Nams event centres is Rigas Nami, Latvia's largest operator and manager of municipally owned properties and the capital's institutions, social housing, municipal market areas and the buildings they contain, as well as a lessor of premises and developer of new projects.