Cinema Museum in Girona

The Cinema Museum, Tomàs Mallol Collection (Museu del Cinema, Col·lecció Tomàs Mallol) is a museum dedicated to film and moving images located in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Inaugurated on April 8, 1998, it was the first museum of its kind in Spain and remains one of the few such institutions in Europe. Its significance rests on the Tomàs Mallol Collection, an internationally recognized assemblage of pre-cinema and cinema objects that traces four centuries of moving-image history, from Chinese shadow theatre to the early years of cinema. The museum occupies a three-floor building of nearly 3,000 square metres in central Girona and has received multiple honors, including finalist status for the European Museum of the Year Award in 2000, the González Sinde Prize from the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2003, the National Heritage Award from the Government of Catalonia in 2006, and the Martha Mata Education Prize from the Association Rosa Sensat Teachers in 2010.

The museum's origins lie in the collecting activity of Tomàs Mallol i Deulofeu (1923-2013), an amateur filmmaker born in Sant Pere Pescador, Catalonia. His passion for cinema technique developed during childhood open-air projections in his hometown's main square. Between 1956 and 1977, Mallol made 31 short films, some of which won awards in Spain and internationally. From the mid-1960s, he began acquiring cinema instruments and researching objects of interest, spending more than 30 years building what became the most important collection of its type in Spain and one of the most outstanding in Europe. In January 1994, the City Council of Girona acquired this collection with the explicit goal of establishing a museum. The resulting institution opened four years later, on April 8, 1998, in a building registered in the Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia.

The museum is housed in a three-floor building located in the centre of Girona, with nearly 3,000 square metres of space overall and 1,500 square metres dedicated to exhibition. The building is included in the Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia, indicating its recognized architectural and historical significance within the region. The interior layout follows a deliberate curatorial path: visitors begin on the lower floor with an audiovisual prologue narrated by the voice of a generic spectator, then proceed through the thematic sections distributed across the upper floors. The exhibition design emphasizes interactivity, incorporating approximately twenty audiovisual elements throughout the visit.

The Cinema Museum in Girona is owned and operated by the City Council of Girona, which acquired the foundational collection in 1994. Its website is http://www.museudelcinema.cat/cat/index.php. The museum maintains an active program beyond its permanent exhibition, including educational activities about cinema and the moving image, temporary exhibitions, and research facilities through its Institute of Studies. The interactive design of the permanent exhibition and its audiovisual components are intended to accommodate visitors of all ages.