A new club for film screenings and other cultural events in Hradec Králové

• The foyer and café of the Centrál cinema will be converted into a venue for screenings, lectures and other cultural events
• The newly refurbished club will welcome 65,000 visitors a year
• The T-Mobile Fund has donated CZK 80,000 for the club´s technical equipment

Prague, 25 January 2007  The Central cinema in Hradec Králové will open a new screening hall on Monday, 29 January. The converted foyer and café of the cinema equipped with the necessary technology will serve not only for film screenings but also for a number of other cultural events and club activities which otherwise would not easily find a suitable venue in Hradec Králové. "Minor genres and their fans, i.e. mainly young people, will thus get a new venue and an opportunity to take part in the social and cultural life in their surroundings. In such a venue providing all the necessary equipment, people can organize events almost by themselves," says Leoš Kučera, director of the Hradec Králové Centrál cinema and vice-president of the Pro-Centrál civic association, which operates the cinema, commenting on the project called ART.DO.G.

The new cinema premises will be opened with a lecture on the Republic of South Africa titled "Culture and Violence not only during the Apartheid Period".  The Swiss documentary "Who was Kafka?" will be the first film to be screened in the converted café two days later.

The costs of the entire project total CZK 367,000, of which CZK 80,000, i.e. almost one fifth, has been donated by the T-Mobile Fund. This money will cover mainly the purchase of a data projector and screen, a DVD player and the screening hall's sound equipment. "The converted foyer will become an ideal place for smaller concerts, theatre performances and lectures. Another part of the cinema that will be used for the project is the café, which will be converted into a second screening room intended for the presentation of films using electronic media. The project offers young people an alternative form of contact with culture. The possibility of meeting people in such an advanced environment is very valuable," says Martina Kemrová, spokesperson for T-Mobile.

The Pro-Centrál association was created in 2003 as a "subsidiary association" of the Pro-Aero civic association operating the Aero cinema in the Prague district of Žižkov. The objective of the association was to convert the Centrál cinema in Hradec Králové into a European-quality art cinema. Three years after the start of the project, Centrál is the largest film club in East Bohemia, a premiere cinema of the region and the coordinating cinema of the Czech Association of Film Clubs. In spring 2004, it became part of the EUROPA CINEMAS network based on the European Union MEDIA program. Since its transformation into an art venue, the cinema has been visited by 200,000 viewers.  

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.