In Los Angeles, a new cinema museum was introduced

Los Angeles – A theater for a thousand viewers, unique items from the most famous films of world cinema, and a view of the Hollywood hills – this is what the new film museum in Los Angeles looks like. Its doors were opened briefly before the Oscars exclusively for journalists by the American Film Academy. It is still uncertain when the public will be able to enter, reported the American website Variety.

"This museum belongs to everyone. Los Angeles has never had such a large film museum, despite the fact that the city and the film industry have known for a long time that it's needed," said the institution's director, Bill Kramer. "The building is basically finished. We're starting to arrange galleries and exhibitions," he added. The exact opening date has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be this year.

Hollywood has been attempting to open a cinematography museum for nearly half a century, notes the AFP agency. Ultimately, the building designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano provided refuge, inside which are, among other things, two cinemas. In the larger one, 1000 people can be seated on seats covered in Italian velvet, while the smaller one seats 288.


Visitors will also be able to view famous items from films of Hollywood's golden era. These include, for example, the red slippers worn by actress Judy Garland in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the entrance to the café made famous by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, or Count Dracula's cape worn by Béla Lugosi in the legendary 1931 vampire film.

For its official opening, the museum is preparing a retrospective dedicated to Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, who is the creator of the masterful animated films Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro. His film Spirited Away won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2003.

The retrospective will be followed by an exhibition on the history of Black directors, aimed at contributing to the depiction of film history "in all its diversity." The American Film Academy is often accused of favoring white people and men, recalls AFP. This year, among the Oscar nominations for Best and Supporting Male and Female Roles, there was only one person of non-white descent, while the Best Director category includes only men, which has elicited critical reactions.