Santos Elizalde had never been to the movies before. On the day of her first trip to the cinema, she wore warm clothes to guard against the winds, and had to wake up early to get a good spot. This “cinema” isn’t surrounded by a food court or a shopping mall: it’s 3,000 metres high in the skirts of the Pichincha volcano. The dusty soccer field it’s constructed on is in Ayacucho, north of Quito. 

Every Saturday, Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa speaks to the nation from a different, sometimes remote, part of the country. Live on a stage, he goes over the action’s of his government that week, and offers colour commentary on matters that interest him. The show, called Enlace Ciudadano, is broadcast nationally. When he’s done speaking, a staff of hundreds of people break down the stage, the projectors, the sound system, the screens, the kiosks, the massive tent, pack up the plastic chairs and the portable toilets, and move the whole show to its next location.

By Friday, the night before the next show, the stage is set up at its new location and ready for the big day. But Friday nights the Enlace set-up is used not to bring the president to the people, but to bring the people to the movies.

At 5 p.m. on Aug. 30, the Ecuadorian movie to be projected was Tania Hermida’s Qué tan Lejos. Almost 900 people were in the crowd. Some, like Elizalde, were attending a “cinema” for the first time in their lives.

Etelvina Amuy was also at Friday’s show. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to the movies, but vaguely remembers going to see a Mexican film once at a Quito cinema. She’s a member of the local version of the neighbourhood watch, so she has spent nights outdoors, from 11 to 3 am, on patrol. She says this helps control delinquency in the community of about 2,000 people.

The organizers, from the Ministry of Culture and the National Communications Secretariat, passed out soda and popcorn to the people in the crowd.

A local theatre group provided the opening act. Then, a local band played, and eventually, the movie started. The hundreds of children, adults, police officers and street vendors who were gathered went quiet, ready to be transported to another reality, a faraway world.

Original story