Cinematheque•Passion to undergo maintenance until Q3 next year

Inspection and maintenance work has been scheduled at Cinematheque•Passion and should be completed by the third quarter of next year, the art hourse cinema said in a statement on its website last night.

The cinema, which only has one screen, belongs to the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) that commissioned CUT Limited to run it when it officially opened three years ago. The company is affiliated to Associação Audio-Visual CUT that local filmmaker Albert Chu Iao Ian founded in 1999.

The statement said that inspection and maintenance work has been arranged for the cinema because of the “heavy” usage of the projection system and equipment.

According to the statement, the work will be completed by the third quarter of 2020 so as to offer the public “an even better quality of film screening facilities” in the future.

The statement pointed out during the period, the cinema will continue to organise activities to promote local film culture and cultivate local film appreciation.

The statement, which provided Cultural Affairs Bureau staff contact details for enquiries “during office hours”, didn’t say when the inspection and maintenance begins, nor did it say if the cinema or the whole complex would be closed during that time.

CUT Limited representative Rita Wong Yeuk Ying told The Macau Post Daily last night that the “maintenance” would start next year.

Wong said that the CUT’s three-year contract for the operation of the cinema will end at the end of this year, while the activities and screenings scheduled “before January 1” were still going on. She did not elaborate.

Just last week, CUT announced a free screening activity at the cinema on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with two classic films – Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” and Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment”.