The Summer Traveling Cinema, organized by Tenique Cultural, has closed its fourth edition with a participation that exceeds 2,500 people. Throughout fourteen nights of open-air screenings, the emblematic project has toured the municipalities of Arrecife, Tinajo, Haría, San Bartolomé, Teguise, Yaiza and Tías, bringing films, popcorn and conversations to unique spaces on the island turned into movie theaters under the stars.
This year's edition has not only brought together new audiences, but also many people who have been present since the first edition of the project in 2022. This loyalty has given rise to an intergenerational community that grows every summer, with people who have even moved from one municipality to another so as not to miss any session, making the traveling cinema a traveling experience also for its own public.
The films screened – from Shrek to Arde Mississippi, passing through A Second Mother, E.T. or La Huella – opened the way to intense and participatory debates, where family, power, inequality, memory or identity were discussed. Each night was an opportunity to think in a close, friendly and respectful environment.
One of the most emotional moments of this edition was experienced in La Vegueta, when an elderly woman, after seeing E.T., commented: "I saw this movie with my children when they were little. Today I have seen it again with my grandchildren. It's like closing a circle." In the words of the president of Tenique Cultural and director of the project, Javier Fuentes Feo: "The debates and that type of personal stories, shared between generations and full of meaning, are the heart of our summer cinema."
As a novelty this year, a free bus service from Arrecife was incorporated, facilitating access to the sessions for elderly people or those without their own transport. The measure, promoted with the support of the Culture, Education and Seniors areas of the Arrecife City Council, reinforces the inclusive, participatory and sustainable nature of the proposal.
The Summer Traveling Cinema is more than a cultural activity: it is a way of being together, of creating community and of claiming cinema as a social tool. Tenique Cultural celebrates the closing of this edition with the desire to continue sharing images, emotions and collective thinking in future editions.
