Cinema Ideal manager wants to return medal to Minister of Culture

In a letter sent to Margarida Balseiro Lopes, which Lusa had access to, Pedro Borges says that what is at stake is "the disregard shown to work carried out over more than a decade and to an investment -- absolutely unique in this country -- in the restoration of a historic cinema, by a private company."

The producer and exhibitor explains that he needs 40,000 euros to renew the digital projection equipment in the theater, because the current one, purchased 11 years ago, "is currently at the end of its lifespan and could 'go out' at any moment," which would lead to the closure of the cinema.

Midas Cinemas applied for the 2025 Ad Hoc financial support program from the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA) to obtain 30,000 euros for "re-equipment and improvements" at Cinema Ideal, but says the response "was disappointing: only 20,000 euros".

"Which means we'll be forced to go into debt for another half a year," laments the exhibitor.

At the beginning of October, the exhibitor had already issued a public warning about the results of that financial support, claiming that Cinema Ideal could close its doors due to the "very significant cut" in that funding.

Although the information regarding Ad Hoc support on the official ICA website states that it is in the "pronouncement analysis" phase, the institute announced in a press release that the support granted to Cinema Ideal was 66.6% (20,000 euros) of the amount of 30,000 euros, "making up 50% of the total amount of the project presented (40,000 euros)".

He also stated that the amount to be allocated to Cinema Ideal is the same as that previously allocated to similar applications for the acquisition of exhibition equipment or projectors.

For the ICA, the allocation of this amount "in no way diminishes the merit and quality of Cinema Ideal's work," but the theater's manager claims that it provides "an invaluable public service to the community," already recognized in 2024 with a medal of cultural merit.

"Either we accept this support and create debt that we will find it difficult to overcome (the conditions in which we operate are already purely draconian), or we do not proceed down this suicidal path and risk the projector 'going off' overnight and Cinema Ideal being forced to close," lamented Pedro Borges.

Cinema Ideal is located between Chiado and Bairro Alto and reopened on August 28, 2014, by the production company Midas Filmes. It is one of the few cinemas in Lisbon with a door to the street, outside of a shopping center and with a program that gives particular emphasis to Portuguese cinema.

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