Watching movies and sitting under the stars have always been two of summertime’s greatest pleasures. And now, at venues all over the world, more and more people are enjoying them simultaneously. In New York City, where obscure and commercial offerings can be seen indoors every night, the trend is relatively new. In Europe, outdoor movies–popular before the dominance of television –are winning a new generation of fans. From a castle in Switzerland to a bullring outside Madrid, today’s open-air venues are almost as funky and diverse as the movies being shown. Those range from rare, old documentaries and Hitchcock classics to relatively recent releases such as “Gladiator” and “Pearl Harbor.” But whether you’re watching “Chocolat” on the roof of a Sheraton in Ankara or “What Women Want” behind the Parthenon, the appeal is universal. “You can sit under the stars, nibble on something and enjoy a good movie, and you’ve had your evening of entertainment in nature without spending a lot of money,” says Athens resident Kyriakos Condoulis, 68.
The Greeks were among the earliest enthusiasts of outdoor cinema. In 1916 two Frenchmen showed an eight-minute silent film on a whitewashed wall in Athens. Three years later the city’s first outdoor theater opened. The trend grew until the 1970s, when Greece’s outdoor theaters–like America’s drive-ins–took a hit from the rising popularity of TV, videos and air-conditioned multiplexes. But lately new sponsors have discovered fresh-air films and distributors have started offering newer releases. “When you give the public top- shelf movies the place is packed,” says Thomas Maniakis, whose summer cinema is located at the foot of the Acropolis. Today there are about 100 permanent open-air venues in Athens–almost twice as many as in the 1980s–where people gather to watch subtitled versions of Hollywood fare such as “The Mexican” and “Cast Away.” Audiences sit at communal tables and munch on popcorn or more homegrown snacks such as grilled calamari and souvlaki. Cold beer is usually available and if the movie isn’t interesting, viewers can gaze at the stars or listen to the hum of the cicadas.
It helps to have a beautiful venue. Nine years ago the northern Italian city of Udine began offering outdoor films in piazzas. Now Cinema Sotto le Stelle–Cinema Under the Stars–plays films nightly from June until late August. The most famous Italian piazza-with-cinema combo is the annual Locarno International Film Festival held during the first two weeks of August. With the 7,000-seat Piazza Grande, a giant screen (26 meters by 14 meters) and a solid list of heavyweight corporate sponsors, the festival resembles a backyard Cannes.
Setting isn’t everything. In Turkey, several outdoor cinemas have opened in shabby empty lots, as well as at holiday resorts along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts and luxury-hotel rooftops in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. In some places, the price of a ticket includes a cocktail.
Still, any true fan of open-air cinema must make a pilgrimage to the 26 meter-by-13 meter screen–one of the largest in Europe–at the Parc de la Villette in Paris. The theme of this year’s Cinema en Plein Air festival, Families, Clans and Tribes, has included such films as “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “The Snapper” and “Do the Right Thing.” The cinema is so popular that moviegoers, a mix of city folk and suburbanites, occasionally jam the subway lines to get there. The crowd usually numbers between 5,000 and 10,000, but a recent showing of “Pulp Fiction” drew nearly 16,000 people. “They come for the ambience,” says festival spokesperson Carole Polonsky.
If summer seems too short (it always does), outdoor-movie fans can fly south for the winter. The Open Air Cinema in Sydney Harbor, Australia, seats 1,700–and runs in January and February. For the cost of a plane ticket, it could be possible to live the endless summer.
