ITALY: Odeon, Bologna
ITALY: Odeon, Bologna
For over forty years, at the corner where Via Belle Arti meets Via Mascarella, a bright yellow and green sign with an 80s look has revealed the location of Bologna’s Odeon theatre.
After a trip to France, Gino Agostini was mesmerized by the Le Balzac cinema in Paris and, together with his partner Egidio Errani, took over the licenses of the Odeon red-light cinemas necessary to open the multiplex (one license, one cinema: that was the law at the time).
Thus was born, for the first time in Italy, the first multiplex in the medieval centre of a city.
Today the venue consists of four cinema halls and a bar/bistro in the foyer. Odeon’s regular programming includes the best of Italian and European arthouse cinema, with movies often presented by authors and cast. The theatre also hosts several special cinema programmes that allow its public to encounter repertory films, movies undistributed in Italy and movies for children. Odeon is a home to all things cinematic, but also to multi-disciplinary events, concerts, talks and even karaokes.