May 2024

This initiative is the result of a cooperation agreement established on April 22nd between Penedo City Hall and the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL).

The regular operation of the cinema, which reopened in November 2023, reinforces Penedo’s status as a UNESCO Creative City in the Cinema category—a distinction it shares only with Santos-SP within the global network of mutual cooperation.

“We will provide staff to ensure Cine Penedo can operate regularly, offering a valuable leisure option to the community and special sessions for students during school hours,” stated Mayor Ronaldo Lopes. The agreement is also endorsed by UFAL Dean Josealdo Tonholo.

Sérgio Onofre, a professor involved in the Penedo Cinema Circuit and UFAL, explained that the new phase of Cine Penedo will feature a hybrid system. There will be free film club sessions on Wednesdays, alongside screenings aimed at public school students.

“On other days, we will show commercial films at a popular price. This approach is crucial for the regular operation of the cinema, encouraging the public to engage with this important cultural asset for Penedo,” said Onofre, who coordinates the audiovisual production laboratory that includes classrooms and its own building adjacent to the cinema.

By: Fernando Vinícius – SECOM Penedo

The 13th edition of the Circuit will occur alongside a historic event for the state of Alagoas cinematographic production and for the country’s national audiovisual culture: The very reopening of the “Cine Penedo”, the city’s first movie theater. Located next to the Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos located in the Historic Center, the building operated for three decades, from 1950 to 1980. More than 40 years later the cultural space will once more open it’s doors for the public on November 13.
Unused for years, the property was acquired by IPHAN (National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute) and transferred to the Federal University of Alagoas, an institution that aims to stimulate audiovisual productions in Penedo. The renovation was accomplished with financing from BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank) and the effective participation of the Ronaldo Lopes (Mayor by the time of editing) administration, both in political support and the expropriation of the area around the cinema.

Thus the cultural space’s recovery is the result of “a gathering of forces and initiatives which facilitated the official building’s restoration and acquisition of furniture and equipment to resume its working state,” as emphasized by UFAL in a report sent to the City Hall, informing the reopening date of the Cine Penedo.

13th Edition of Penedo’s Cinema Circuit

With a record number of submissions in 2023—841 productions— Penedo’s Cinema Circuit offers free admission to all its events, including three competitive festivals and one non-competitive exhibition. This year’s edition features the 16th Brazilian Cinema Festival, the 13th Alagoas University Film Festival, the 10th Velho Chico Environmental Film Festival, and the 13th Children’s Film Festival.

The event is organized by the Institute of Cultural, Political, and Social Studies of Contemporary Man (IECPS), in partnership with the Federal University of Alagoas and the Secretary of State for Culture of Alagoas. It is also sponsored by the São Francisco River Basin Committee (CBHSF) and the City of Penedo.

By: Fernando Vinícius – SECOM JOURNALIST

Penedo City Hall and UFAL close partnership for the regular operation of Cine Penedo.

Cine Penedo (Penedo’s theater) will be reestablished at the opening of the 13th Cinema Circuit of Penedo.