As Alfonso Cuarón’s universally acclaimed film Roma continues its successful theatrical run in Mexico’s alternative distribution circuit—after the country’s two main multiplex chains refused to screen the film due to Netflix’s streaming policies—it was announced today that the screening room at Los Pinos will join the growing network of exhibitors.
Los Pinos served as the presidential residence since 1934 until last Friday when newly-inaugurated president Andrés Manuel López Obrador made official his campaign promise to convert the house into a cultural center open to the general public. Since opening its doors on Saturday, Los Pinos, centrally located at the Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, has received over 100,000 visitors.
The screening room, located in the basement of the building, has 35 reclining seats upholstered in leather, and was formerly used by Mexico’s presidents and their families for entertainment and official functions.
Cuarón’s film, Mexico’s Oscar submission, will have daily screenings beginning tomorrow, Thursday, December 6 with free admission. Los Pinos becomes the 97th theater currently showing the movie in Mexico, a country with 6,677 screens in total.
December 6, 2018, Update.
Based on the expectations created on the news of the screening of Roma at Los Pinos and the limited seating capacity at its screening room, López Obrador’s Ministry of Culture has announced that they are looking into other spaces to screen the film onsite and will confirm the screening dates and showtimes in the future.
