Man opens arthouse cinema, fulfilling boyhood dream
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL—Carlos Costa would never forget the summer day his grandmother took him to the movies. He was 6 years old when he first walked into a dark theater to watch “The Clumsy Ones in King Solomon’s Mines,” a 1977 Brazilian comedy that remains one of the country’s biggest box office hits.
“When I saw that giant screen, wow, I was mesmerized. I thought: Someday I’ll have a movie theater of my own,” he said. “Fifty years later, that dream has come true.”
In 2022 Costa, a former TV producer, opened Cine LT3, a 35-seat cinema in Sao Paulo. Using his savings and credit card, he spent about 100,000 reais ($18,600) to renovate an old garage, buy vintage seats which he found in an old shuttered theater in the countryside, and transform the space into a movie theater.
Costa’s independent cinema is part of a resistance of venues surviving outside the mall circuit.
Maria Amélia Marcos, a 71-year-old teacher who was visiting LT3 for the first time, believes these venues are essential to preserving the city’s cultural memory.
“I imagine the curators are very thoughtful people who want audiences to see the kind of movies they themselves would love to watch,” she said.
When The Associated Press (AP) visited Costa’s theater, the schedule included a restored screening of “Paris, Texas,” marking the 80th birthday of German director Wim Wenders.
While he admits the work is challenging, he is happy doing what he loves.
And he loves cinema, just like Toto, the protagonist of his favorite movie, “Cinema Paradiso,” whom he paid tribute to with a painting on the wall outside LT3.
“I think Costa does a really great job,” said Maída Alves, 63, a regular at LT3. “I see him selling tickets, making popcorn, cleaning, running the film, answering the phone. That fascinates me. It shows how you have to take initiative to pursue a dream, which I imagine is his life’s dream.”
