The International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) today celebrates the 2020-2021 winners of the ICTA EMEA Awards for their technological leadership and for promoting innovation in the cinema exhibition sector. A sizzle reel, showcasing the three outstanding cinemas, as well as interviews with the winners will be released on ICTA’s website (www.icta-web.com) and on Social Media (LinkedIn post here). They were also today featured at the Celluloid Junkie Cinema Summit.

ICTA is a global network of professionals in the motion picture industry. Members are those companies that manufacture, service and create equipment that goes into movie theatres. Each year, the European branch of the association awards three cinema operators that champion and celebrate innovation in cinema exhibition with the ICTA EMEA awards in the categories New Build Cinema of the Year, Best Cinema Refurbishment and Classic Cinema of the Year. This year’s winners are:

New Build Cinema of the Year: Muvi Cinema, U-WALK, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Best Cinema Refurbishment: Cineplexx, Millennium City, Vienna, Austria
Classic Cinema of the Year: Pathé Tuschinski, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Given current event restrictions and in place of the traditional awards event during CineEurope ICTA produced a celebratory sizzle reel for online use, which showcases the three stunning cinemas, as well as video interviews with management of each cinema company. These videos will also be available on www.icta-web.com as well on Social Media.

Commenting are ICTA’s International Directors Till Cussmann, Oliver Pasch and Jan Runge:

“Once again huge congratulations to all three award winners and their teams who ensure that cinemagoers have amazing and memorable experiences when they visit these outstanding theatres. Each cinema is a cutting-edge illustration of how the movie-going experience is currently being re-invented around the World in order to ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy films together on the Big Screen.”

The three cinema companies commented on their winning:

Adon Quinn, COO, Muvi Cinemas, Saudi-Arabia:

“It is a great honor for muvi Cinemas to be recognized by ICTA for Best New Build Cinema of the Year. As the first home-grown cinema brand, and since Saudi Arabia is such a new market for cinemas, we realized the need to develop an outstanding facility in the capital of KSA. muvi Cinema U-Walk aims to represent our brand promise and values to the audience by offering the best technology in the market with Dolby Cinema, Samsung Onyx LED Screen, ScreenX and our luxurious VIP cinema offering muvi Suites. Cinema is more than just watching a movie, it is the overall experience we deliver to our customers from booking their tickets until the movie ends. We are extremely proud of the experience being provided to our guest at muvi Cinemas U-Walk.”

Christof Papousek, CFO and Co-Owner, Cineplexx Group, Austria:

“A big thank you to the entire ICTA community for presenting Cineplexx Millennium City with the Award for best cinema refurbishment in the EMEA region in 2020-2021. The cinema is Cineplexx flagship site and offers audiences a truly immersive and state of the art cinema going experience. We with our partners redefined the role of digital signage in the cinema and with Dolby Cinema and Real D’s Ultimate Screen are offering two amazing PLF experiences.”

Jacques Hoendervangers, Managing Director, Pathé Netherlands:

“We are very proud to be the winner of the ICTA’s Classic Cinema of the Year. Innovation is at the core of our business. Next year Pathé Tuschinski will celebrate its 100th birthday and with its unique art-deco style it was already one of the most beautiful movie theaters in the world. This year we brought the exclusiveness and grandeur back to all rooms, we built a unique cocktail bar and we updated the screens to the latest technology. So our visitors can enjoy an exclusive day or night out with their friends or family in the style of the 1920’s, but with the technology and comfort of today. We are very honoured that the film experts of ICTA acknowledge the beauty of this exceptional theater.”