Film director Cristian Mungiu visits one of the cinemas currently being rehabilitated in Timișoara

Film director Cristian Mungiu recently visited the construction site of the arthouse movie theater Cinema Studio in Timișoara.

Cinema Studio is one of four old movie theaters in Timișoara, which had been left in a state of disrepair for years, and are currently being renovated by City Hall in honor of the city’s year as a European Capital of Culture in 2023.

The mayor of Timișoara, Dominic Fritz, posted a message on his Facebook page after meeting director Cristian Mungiu at Cinema Studio, which he referred to as "the cinema that will host screenings of art films, award-winning films and will be a meeting place for cinephiles".

Mayor Fritz was glad to welcome the renowned film director to Timișoara and said that he is looking forward to seeing him again, "maybe even at the screening that will reopen the Cinema Studio".

The Studio Cinema is due to be finished in 2023 and will operate as an art house cultural space, integrated into the Europa Cinemas network of cinemas, with screenings of European independent, art, and auteur films as its main focus, according to News.ro.

The online publication reports that it will also serve areas related to the film industry: film production, journalism, multimedia, photography, and sound design, and is meant to host a film education program for children and young adults.

The cinema will have two screening rooms, with a total of 254 seats.

On the ground floor, there will be a lobby, a café, a shop, and two studios for sound and video editing.

A café-cinema will be set up on the building's terrace, where open-air film screenings and small-scale cultural events will be organized.

The investment into Cinema Studio amounts to nearly EUR 3 mln, money from Timisoara's local budget.

Last week, Cristian Mungiu was in Timișoara because of the Ceau, Cinema! Film Festival where he was a guest, alongside other prominent figures in contemporary Romanian cinema. The festival was held at Cinema Victoria, which is the first of the five cinemas in Timișoara to have been rehabilitated, after an investment of EUR 2 mln.

The movie theater seats 192 people and is equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment.

"The cinema is technically equipped to function as a multi-purpose hall. There are two separate sound systems, one specifically calibrated to the needs of the cinema, and another sound system for other types of events, such as concerts, theatre performances, or conferences," infrastructure manager Lucian Pană