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This column hosts portraits of cinemas in Europe and the rest of the world which are quite different from one another but have in common the fact that they have all adopted digital projection.

Coca Cola Plaza - Tallinn

The “DigiTraining Plus” course that MEDIA Salles will organize from 29 June to 3 July 2011 in Helsinki and Tallinn foresees a visit to the Coca Cola Plaza.

An ancient Hanseatic town, Tallinn boasts a fine medieval city centre: this is what the tourist guides tell you. In fact, the capital of Estonia offers far more than the vestiges of a glorious past. Visitors who wish to have the experience of being in an authentic laboratory of contemporary architecture can start from the Rotermann: a harbour-side neighbourhood with factories and warehouses dating from the time of the Tsars, now the site of offices and shops which have taken up residence in the renovated versions of these ancient brick buildings. Prominent amongst them is the combination of an unadorned, two-storey parallelepiped with three truncated pyramids made of glass and steel on the roof: not the most commonly used way of gaining precious cubic metres and international fame at the same time. It is precisely here that a cinema is to be found which is the first in the world to bear the name of the cinemagoer’s drink par excellence: the Coca Cola Plaza. Now approaching its tenth anniversary – it was inaugurated on 10 March 2001 – this city multiplex is equipped with eleven screens, seats a total of 1,967 spectators, and is housed in a modern, multi-storey building that also acts as a covered walkway between two important streets in the centre of Tallinn – not a negligible feature at a latitude where temperatures remain below zero for much of the year. Even those who do not have the time or the inclination to watch a film can stop en passant at one of the cinema’s bars – specialized in fruit smoothies – taste the pizza of the day at Basilik’s, the Italian-style restaurant, or stock up on sweets at the candy shop, which offers quickly served and authentic Illy coffee. On the ground floor those who, instead, come here to watch a film will find not only the inevitable box-office but also fully-fledged wardrobe facilities which make it possible to get rid of overcoats and bags (and perhaps snow galoshes, too). Ample video-screens provide information on programming and special initiatives, should the spectator not be well-informed enough already, thanks to the app. that Forum Cinemas – the exhibitor and distributor which manages the Coca Cola Plaza – makes available to potential clients (those interested in viewing it will find the link below), whilst a series of escalators transport spectators to the theatres laid out on several different floors. Of these, five screens are equipped for digital projection and 3D, using XpanD technology, and also offer the musts of alternative content, such as the football World Cup or the Metropolitan’s opera season. The flower in the buttonhole of the Coca Cola Plaza - Forum Cinemas’ most important complex, in other words the Estonian equivalent of Finnkino – is the VIP suite, a theatre with 40 luxury armchair seats destined for clients who wish to enjoy special comfort and special treatment. The suite – bearing the “A. LeCoq” brand name, that of Estonia’s most famous beer, is linked to the Lounge of the same name, a hospitable and exclusive salon with an admirably stocked bar and a smoking area. If a film costs 5 euro on the “lower floors”, or 6.50 in 3D, up here prices can reach 20 euro for the New York opera. From the lounge – we are on the fifth floor here – a sweeping glass window offers spectacular views of Tallinn’s city centre. Whoever prefers a more romantic panorama to that of daring twentyfirst century architecture, need only look straight ahead: the medieval towers and gothic spires are right there, almost near enough to touch.