After the success of its theaters in Mexico City and Bogotá, Colombia, Cine Tonalá will open a third location in the border city of Tijuana on October 15, TropicalFRONT has learned. With four years of experience, Cine Tonalá expands its network of cultural and culinary centers in Latin America. The project founded by Marcela Lugo, Arturo Dib and Juan Pablo Bastarrachea, will operate in Tijuana under the direction of filmmakers José Inerzia and Adriana Trujillo.
In recent years, Tijuana has become an international cultural epicenter, thanks to the emergence of new forms of audiovisual creation and culinary experimentation, setting about the birth of new enterprises and actors related to the cultural sector. Cine Tonalá Tijuana aims to become a new meeting point to enjoy arthouse cinema, music, theatre, stand-up routines, workshops and cuisine.
Inerzia and Trujillo, two of the most recognized cultural and film promoters in Tijuana, and founders of BorDocs, a documentary film forum in the northern border region will oversee the local operations, promoting the best of independent cinema and local art expressions.
Cine Tonalá Tijuana will be set in what it used to be an abandoned warehouse located on Revolución Avenue, and it will have two theaters: one with a capacity for 90 people, and an outdoor theater. The venue will also have a restaurant and a bar, dedicated to showcase the best of Tijuana through its regional chefs, brewers and mixologists.
A brainchild of interior designers and restauranteurs Lugo and Dib with cultural promoter Bastarrachea, Cine Tonalá was launched in Mexico City in 2012 with the mission to promote Mexican cinema and local talent. It opened its doors at Tonalá 261 in the cosmopolitan Roma Sur neighborhood. A couple of years later, Cine Tonalá opened its second location in the central neighborhood of La Merced at the Colombian capital, under the direction of Salomón Simhon, keeping the essence of the original location.
In four years and two locations, Cine Tonalá has had over 8,000 film projections, 96 theater performances, 768 stand-up routines and 48 concerts. It has also featured a long list of distinguished guests including filmmakers such as Larry Clark, Luis Ospina, Ciro Guerra, Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Pereda, Léos Carax, Marie Losier, Natalia Almada, and musicians like Lydia Lunch, Gepe, Edda Magnason, Arto Lindsay, Chacha Via Circuito, among many others.
Having become an international reference as a meeting point for the creative scene both in Mexico City, and Bogotá, Cine Tonalá expects to become a new cultural landmark and to support new local, national and international creative proposals in Tijuana.
