A gem in Pistoia: the small cinema Arena in Porta al Borgo

A gem in Pistoia: the small cinema Arena in Porta al Borgo

Between Villa Baldi-Papini, the gardens of Scuole Medie Roncalli and Via delle Pentole there is the Arena Porta al Borgo, an outdoor cinema managed by Mabuse Cinema in collaboration with Comune di Pistoia.

The program consists of festival films, blockbusters, cinema d’essai, the invisible, Italian cinema and the family genre. At an affordable price and with a variety for all tastes. A parterre of green and orange seats accommodates a large public every night. A real gem which not many cities have.

It is also for this reason that I would like to spend some words of appreciation towards the organizers and the Comune di Pistoia who offer this service. Especially in these difficult times for cinema in general and for the city in particular which sees in the future the possibility of the closure of another movie theater. After we have been subjected in the past to the closure of the Eden, the Verdi, the Nuovo Cinema Paradiso. And what to say about our Mountains? The Cinema Appennino of San Marcello with its long gallery and the painted wood seats has long since closed down. Il cinema Teso in Maresca in the recent past has closed down forever its beautiful theater with the red seats. The Cinema Reno, in Campo Tizzoro, theater mindful of ancient glory, by now proves to be buried by dust and oblivion.

This is the reason why I exhort everyone to go to the movies. Be it only to meet with friends, or to benefit from the fresh air of that garden, or be it also to taste the flavor of a movie missed during the winter program or a particular movie, d’essai, maybe in the original language, which the usual circuit of the movie theaters has disregarded, but moreover, be it to guarantee the survival of this art which is as important as the other ones.

The current program extends until 5^th August, but many other interesting movies are going to be inserted until the early days of September, when the Arena will close down.

Let us remember that the Arena is easily reachable, it has a parking area close by, it is in proximity to the city center and it has two entrances: one in Via dei Pappagalli and one in Via delle Pentole.

Let’s savor this city summer, hot and stormy, with the culture and the show of a great outdoor cinema.

Laura Filoni

Traduzione letterale: Giulia Amorotti -studentessa Liceo Scientifico Amedeo di Savoia di Pistoia