This is how Zumzeig works, the only cooperative cinema in Catalonia.
In a Barcelona where independent and neighborhood movie theaters are becoming increasingly scarce, this initiative has taken root in the city: it offers a program designed by the cooperative's members, viewers, and project volunteers, and has become a meeting point for film buffs.
At number 53 Béjar Street, in the Sants-Montjuïc district, a pair of semicircular canvas awnings catch the eye. They are a deep navy blue: classic and elegant. On one, the word " bistro. In the other, cinemaSince 2013, they have protected the doors leading to the Zumzeig, the only cooperative cinema in Catalonia and one of the few in the entire country. Adrift, a Chinese love epic that won an award at the Seminci Film Festival and is only available in sixteen theaters across Spain. In Barcelona, it's only being shown in Zumzeig and Texas, both with Catalan subtitles.
"We want to be a space where viewers can watch unique films, but also a meeting point and a community," explains Albert Triviño, Zumzeig's programming coordinator. This is the goal the project has pursued for the past twelve years, since film lover and cultural activist Stéphane Bernatas Chassaigne initiated it. He did so with the help of Guillaume Mariès and David Dorado and with a firm conviction: to promote an innovative exhibition model in Spain. Established on the margins of the mainstream audiovisual industry, Zumzeig has been committed from day one to independent and hard-to-reach films, with a special interest in less commercial contemporary offerings. This bold and determined approach quickly earned the venue the respect of Barcelona's film community.
In the spring of 2016, after three years of development, the founding team decided to step back and begin a new phase. They wanted the project to go further: to expand even further into the neighborhood and become more participatory. From that desire, a new collective of seven people was born, who, after a brief transition period, reopened the cinema under a cooperative model. The pact with the founders was clear: to keep the programming and cultural and social activism alive. Since then—November 2016—the Zumzeig has operated as a cooperative.
"Forming a cooperative was a natural process: it was the model that best fit our spirit of a participatory, horizontal, and bidirectional project," Triviño explains. Now, almost a decade later, she asserts that being a cooperative has allowed them to build a horizontal project at all levels. Not only in internal management, but also in relationships with related cultural institutions in the neighborhood and the city. "At the same time, we've been able to build a film exhibition proposal defined in cooperation between the working members, the audience, and other volunteers involved in our project," she adds. "Zumzeig is a collective cinema," she says.
An almost unique case
When the Zumzeig theater hosted its first screening in 2013, it was already an unprecedented initiative in Spain. "It was a project that went against the grain," Triviño confirms. "It was a neighborhood movie theater," he continues. With its conversion to a cooperative, the Zumzeig didn't lose its special status: cooperative cinemas are a rare elderly in Spain. "One of our references was the Numax cinema in Santiago de Compostela, opened a year after the Zumzeig, already a cooperative from the start," notes the programming coordinator. It's a project they consider a friend and with which they cooperate regularly.
But how exactly does a cooperative cinema work? "We're a worker cooperative, and that means the workers participate in both decision-making and the day-to-day management of the project," explains Ana Uslenghi, communications and projects coordinator for the Zumzeig bistrot—the small cinema bar—supported by three hired staff.
The organization is completed by two key bodies: the governing council, where both working and collaborating members are represented, and the general assembly. "500 people who pay an annual fee and, despite not having a vote, can express their opinions," Uslenghi notes.
The Zumzeig community
"We believe that over the years we have been able to create a loyal and participatory community," says Albert Triviño. For him, the connection with the neighborhood has gone beyond the simple relationship between cinema and audience: whoever sits in the Zumzeig's chair is not a customer, but an active spectator who can get involved in the life of the project. In fact, the theater is not intended to be a one-way space, but rather a place of encounter, dialogue, and shared responsibility. "That's why much of our cultural programming is proposed and coordinated by the community itself," Triviño adds.
This spirit permeates the programming, which focuses on bold and committed offerings: independent, arthouse, experimental, and documentary films with a social perspective, with special attention to local productions and the solidarity economy. The open assemblies convened periodically are another fundamental pillar: a space to collectively consider the future of the project and keep the cooperative essence of Zumzeig alive.
Regarding the Zumzeig's economic viability, it is based on three main pillars: operating income (box office, venue and bar rentals), membership fees, and public subsidies from various administrations, such as Barcelona City Council, the Generalitat (Catalan government), and the Spanish government. "The balance between these three pillars was key to sustaining the project in an increasingly hostile context for grassroots culture and alternative exhibition venues," explains Ana Uslenghi.
Although a few years ago, being a cooperative could generate confusion within the audiovisual sector, today the situation is different. "The strength of the social and solidarity economy and mutual support networks have given us more tools than difficulties," says Uslenghi. The support of organizations such as Coop57, Coòpolis, and the Impulso Cooperativo de Sants has been essential in facing difficult times, such as the post-pandemic crisis. For Zumzeig, community support and collaboration between projects with shared values are not just a resource: they are part of its reason for being. "We believe that resisting with values, in a highly competitive and individualistic environment, is one of the driving forces that makes our project unique," he concludes.
