Casal Camprodoní is the non-profit entity that manages the Camprodon cinema. Its history dates back to 1883. In this municipality of just over 2,400 inhabitants, they have managed to maintain the flame of the seventh art despite the economic difficulties and the various crises in the sector. Now it has started a campaign to attract new members and guarantee the continuity of this service that gives life to the town.
“If we were a commercial cinema, we would have closed by now,” admits its president, Maria Claret.
In recent weeks they have already made thirty discharges, a “record” number. The association admits that they need more, especially young people who want to get involved in the association and guarantee generational change.
The Vall de Camprodon can boast of having a stable film program throughout the year thanks to the work of Casal Camprodoní, the non-profit association that makes it possible. Throughout the year, sessions are held on weekends and holidays and the high season is the month of August.
“We have seen the films nominated for the Golden Globes here,” explains Neus Feliu, a member of the Casal board, proudly. A few years ago, neighbors had to wait a few weeks to see the latest news. Now, however, times have been shortened and the films arrive sooner. “We have good contacts and the distributors pay a lot of attention to us, we are good negotiators,” says its president, Maria Claret, with a smile. That the theaters lack as many spectators as before has been another factor that has worked in their favor.
In this way, people from the area do not have to travel to other places like Ripoll or Olot to go see them because the conditions of the room are optimal.
A few years ago the association already opted for the digitalization of the projector – it achieved it thanks to a solidarity campaign – and this has allowed it to stay up to date on a technological level.
With a capacity of more than 400 seats, in winter they can have from 100 people to a dozen, while in summer is when there is the greatest influx with townspeople and also visitors.
Another advantage, they say, is having kept the room in the center of Camprodon because it plays a very important social role.
For the president of the association, when cinemas in city centers began to close and move them to the outskirts in multiplex format, it was “a serious mistake.” “If you go to a theater on the outskirts, the movie ends and you go home, that’s not social,” she says. And she asks herself to form rhetoric: “If the shops and cinemas close in a town, what is left? Bedroom apartments.”
This is one of the oldest cinemas in Catalonia (the first screenings were in 1907). In 1967 the premises suffered a fire and they moved to the current building (where there had also been a cinema), in Doctor Robert Square.
The call to get members involves attracting more young people and counteracting the success of digital platforms that allow you to watch movies or series without leaving home. And there are fewer and fewer young people in the Camprodon cinema.
According to Feliu, “we want young people to get more involved in cinema and with enthusiasm” remembering that there are much older populations that lack cinema. And here, he highlights, it has been maintained thanks to the efforts of the members of the Casal Camprodoní. “There are 52 weeks a year, every Saturday, Sunday and holidays and in August there is terrible work and none of us complain,” she says.
The casal has also been the seed of most of the town’s associations because the cinema is also a cultural center where concerts, ‘Pastorets’ and other activities are held.
“Associationism is one of the most important tools we have in Catalonia,” claims Feliu. Therefore, his dream is to be able to maintain that flame for future generations.
“We need people to become members, people do not think of its vital importance, an association only works if there are members,” he points out. To register you must pay 30 euros per year and, with the card, the cinema ticket costs half that, 3.20 euros. Currently there are about 600 members, the majority are over 55 years old.
