Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Prague cinema Lucerna

Prague - The celebrations of the centenary of the Lucerna cinema in Prague will culminate in a festive evening for invited guests on December 3rd. However, celebrations will start from noon with the presence of viewers, who will be able to watch two attractive films for free. First the musical Mamma Mia! and then the biographical film about Edith Piaf, which was partially filmed at Lucerna.
    "For the evening hours, we have prepared a film screening for the invited guests, which they will choose themselves upon entering the cinema. At the entrance, they will receive a ball that they will drop into one of three baskets representing the offered titles," said Bedřich Němec, the manager of the Lucerna cinema, to ČTK. The films will include Tomáš Mašín's Three Seasons in Hell and two French films - Galimatyáš from the creator of the famous Amélie from Montmartre, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and the comedy Mikulášovy patálie directed by Laurent Tirard.
    The celebrations of the Lucerna cinema's anniversary began at the end of May with a concert of the Prague Spring festival, where the gem of Czech and Czechoslovak cinema, Machatý's Erotikon, was screened, accompanied by musicians from FOK and conducted by Mário Klemens. After the summer break, the celebrations continued with a showcase of films for the 100th anniversary, which includes ten titles. They represent the past decades up to the present and are selected to always have something in common with Lucerna. The café space accompanies the showcase with an exhibition of period posters and photographs from Czech films, which will last until the end of the year.
    The Lucerna cinema in Prague is the oldest ongoing cinema in operation in the Czech Republic. It is part of the extensive complex of buildings of the Lucerna Palace, which were gradually built from 1907 to 1921. The cinema, with one hall, was built in 1909 in a combination of Renaissance styles and Art Nouveau with more than 500 seats. It was one of the first to show sound films in Prague - the first being the Ship of Comedians in August 1929. In 1931, the first screening of the Czech sound film The Conversion of Ferdyš Pištora also took place here.
    The cinema is linked to the history of the entire Art Nouveau multifunctional palace. The project was developed and realized by the grandfather of Václav and Ivan Havel, builder Václav Havel, in collaboration with architect Stanislav Bechyně. Originally, this hall was intended as an experimental stage for the National Theatre. However, this did not come to pass.
    The palace was the first reinforced concrete building in Prague with a roofed and glass-covered passage, which was unprecedented in the Czech lands at that time. It provided spaces for social and cultural events, shops, and residential purposes and quickly became a center of cultural and social life in Prague. Its components include the Great Hall and also the Lucerna Music Bar.