Rio Cinema

Rio Cinema

More than fifty years after the last film screening, the name still adorns the curve of the facade in large red letters. Time to take a look back at this stately building and its history.

Rio Cinema was not the first and certainly not the only cinema in Stekene, to the west of Antwerp. In 1916, at the instigation of Dorsan De Smedt, the very first film was shown in Stekene in a small room in Café De Roeck. This was rebuilt in 1920 and given the name Belgica Cinema. At the start of the World War II, the Belgica Cinema was ‘accidentally’ blown up when the Belgian military destroyed the bridge over the Stekense Vaart.

During the war, a new cinema was built with the support of the reconstruction effort. The renowned Brussels architect René Ajoux even came to Stekene for this purpose, and the Streamline Moderne style building was constructed by contractor Kegels. The name Rio Cinema was chosen by architect Ajoux.

Moral Decay

Halfway through the World War II, in 1942, the first film premiered at the Rio Cinema.

The war raged fiercely and the Rio Cinema was not spared. Occasionally, the Germans carried out raids to track down those who refused to work, as Flemish young people were forced to work in German factories. The Rio Cinema had plenty of escape routes and no one was ever caught during that time. At the very end of the war, the Germans even placed anti-aircraft guns on the roof of the cinema. Despite all these difficulties, the screenings continued. Often there was only one copy for the Rio Cinema and its competitor Nova Cinema, and the screenings started with a fifteen-minute difference so that the film reel could be transported between the cinemas.

The Germans' retreat was also accompanied by the blowing up of the bridge, but this time there was hardly any damage. In 1953, the Rio Cinema underwent a thorough restoration. Rio Cinema kept up with the new trends with a larger screen and later with the revolutionary CinémaScope, but that also meant the end of the fairytale. Gradually, black-and-white TV made its way into Flemish living rooms. But even worse was the rise of the car, which made the world a lot bigger than one’s own village.

The End

In 1971, the curtain fell. The projectors were sold to the Decascoop in Ghent, where they were put on display. The Rio Cinema became a supermarket until 1986. From 1987 onwards, it became the Rio Video Store, but that business has also long since become obsolete! Since 2023 it has been in use as a Baksel (bakery and bread store).

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

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