A getaway to Vicente López, where the history of the “Hollywood of the Conurbano” is rescued

Los dull shine of the golden age of Argentine cinema once again flicker before the eyes of the public in the suburban landscape of the Vicente López party. The first warning to the neighbors came from the remodeled theater of the York cinema, reopened in September 2000 in front of the Borges station of the Tren de la Costa, in Olivos.

To that milestone essential for the rescue of a portion of cultural history The district continued to enhance the facilities of the Lumiton studiosan ambitious project that began to take shape in 2015.

It is reference place for lovers of national cinema classicsnestled in Munro since 1933was the location chosen to shoot more than 180 films, a lush production that transformed the area into a sort of “Hollywood of the suburbs.”

Las free guided tourshosted by specialist Raúl Manrupe on Wednesdays at 2, 3, and 4 p.m., install visitors for an hour among the echoes of an era of splendor, which regains its validity through photographs, posters of classic films, seats, curtains , costumes and rolls of recovered 16 and 35 millimeter films.

Between the high walls of the brand new Lumiton Audiovisual Power Plant Cinema Museum The voices of stars like Mirtha Legrand and Niní Marshall resonate, crossed with the unmistakable voice of the actor, director and tango singer Hugo del Carril.

Son central figures in the incessant parade of artists, directors, assistants and extras that recorded the Lumiton studios in the 1930s and 1940s, until the production company was dissolved in 1952 and the old Munro Mansion was at the mercy of looting and abandonment for decades .

In its recovered versionLumiton offers the public, once a month, the possibility of enjoying a visit that combines a tour of the permanent exhibition and the screening of a film filmed here.

In May, “16 Años” is screened, starring María Duval and directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen in 1943, when local “Hollywood” was going through its best moment.

On October 31, 2023, when Vicente López became part of the 350 “Creative Cities of Cinema” worldwide selected by UNESCO, the memory of Enrique Telémaco Susini and the “crazy people on the roof” was reborn among the most memorable historians. ”.

This group of audacious radio pioneers, not content with having successfully carried out the country’s first radio broadcast from the terrace of the Teatro Coliseo in 1920, met again a decade later, this time on the roof of the fifth La Algovia, in Munro, to lay the foundations of Radiocinematografía Argentina Lumiton.

The seed bore fruit generously, to the point that this modest emerging silent film space established itself as a respectable polo audiovisualwhich continues about thirty blocks from the Lumiton building.

Actually, York cinema It was already a meeting, recreation and leisure place for the community since February 2, 1910, the date chosen by the Olivos Cosmopolitan Mutual Aid Society to open the doors of the original Cine Select room.

In the catalog of important names that shined on the theater stage and the cinema screen, Jairo, Graciela Borges, Pimpinela, Isabel Sarli and Favio Zerpa stand out. However, the York is best known as a sounding board for Lumiton productions and they were screened here to an audience eagerly awaiting the premiere.

Also in York films were filmed for Argentina and abroad, commercial advertising and television strips. The remodeling of the York, completed in September 2000, crowned the acquisition of the property by the municipality, which converted it into a Municipal Entertainment Hall to present plays, ballet evenings, workshops and recitals by musicians.

The cultural offer diversified, while cinema resumes its leading role: until June 2, with free admissionthe national film series Miradas Argentinas programs films that left their mark, such as “Nine Queens”, “Goodbye to Memory”, “Rapado” and “The Romance of Aniceto and Francisca”, a masterpiece of Leonardo Favio’s filmography released in 1966.

Thus, with some of its best pieces, the most genuine native cinema continues to exert its powerful spell in the north of Greater Buenos Aires.

• Until the Lumiton Studios museum, at Cabral 2354, Munro: from General Paz Avenue, along Av. Miter until 2300 or by Panamericana until Ugarte; At that exit, turn left and continue six blocks. Buses 15,21,41, 60, 93 and 130 and the Belgrano Norte train from Retiro to Munro.

• Until the who York, at Juan Bautista Alberdi 895, Olivos: along Avenida Del Libertador to 2800 or along av. Maipú to 2500 and six blocks to the right on Alberdi. Buses 19, 21, 59, 60, 71 and 152 and Miter train from Retiro to Olivos.

• Secretary of Culture of Vicente López: 4513-9822 / agendavicentelopezcultura@gmail.com / www.vicentelopez.gov.ar /