When I entered the building located at Gouvernestraat, between Kruiskade and Nieuwe Binnenweg, a couple of weeks ago it becomes clear that a lot of work is taking place. You are welcomed by the smell of new paint, dust, scaffolding, bright lamps and workmen. And although not everything is finished yet, you can clearly see the first glimpses of what will soon open at this location, the fifth cinema in Rotterdam: KINO. A cinema which doesn’t only want to be different by showing films which normally aren’t shown in Rotterdam, but it also wants to be more than just a cinema. A place to eat, meet each other and to work as well.

The building itself has a long history, also when it comes to movies. When it was built it was mainly to help people in the neighbourhood, but later it also became a place for stage plays and a cinema. The cinema moved to a bigger location a couple of year ago and new plans were made for the location. When you see the building on the outside not much change can be spotted. The posters state that this summer a new film theater will open in Rotterdam and if you look closely you see a small change above the entrance where a railing has been removed and replaced by two glass windows.

More than just a cinema

Jan de Vries and Frank Groot are the ones who have come up with the idea of KINO. Jan shows me the building and it becomes clear immediately that he can talk about film with a lot of passion. He also has a clear vision of what Rotterdam is currently missing: Too little space for specific type of movies, hardly any possibility to see classic films on the big screen and place you like to spend time even if you don’t immediately go to see a film.

Bar & Restaurant

That idea immediately becomes clear when entering the building. You can’t buy the tickets there as the cash register is place next to the bar. This is done to make sure it doesn’t form an artificial barrier for you to enter and look inside. It has to be a place you also want to visit to drink and have a meal. Looking around you can already see the kitchen taking shape. The bar has recently been installed.

BURO

Besides going out the building also has BURO, which offers a place for people from the audiovisual industry to work. When no movies are shown to the public they can use the equipment to watch what they are producing, creating an intimate relationship between what they are working on and showing it.

Movies

The programming will be very diverse. To do this KINO doesn’t use one person to do this, but several. Ari Deelder will select a different movie each month. The first one will be the Odorama”-film Polyester (which uses scratch cards to allow you to smell what is happening on-screen). Also classics like Chinatown or Ghostbusters (during Halloween) will be shown next to the latest art house movies.

To be able to show these KINO has 4 screens, which are still being finished. In screening room 3 70 chairs still have to be installed, but the others are almost ready and I could already have a look.

Screen 1

This is the biggest one with 210 seats. Although the screen itself still needs to be installed, a couple of things immediately stand out. There is a lot of room for your legs (which is the case everywhere), making for a comfortable experience. For those who have a Cineville subscription (which allows you to see an unlimited number of films) enough reason to stick around and watch a second film.

The ceiling also has been restored to its former glory. It turned out to be in a bad state when they were initially working on it, but it looks great now and adds something to the look.

Screen 2

When entering here chances are that your heart will beat a bit faster when looking at the carpeting. It is the same pattern as the one used in the Overlook hotel in The Shining. Jan de Vries tells me that this already is starting to become his favorite spot as the room is smaller and because of that cozy.

The curved ceiling no longer has the lights in it that it used to have, but consists of various parts which are backlit. It has room for 66 visitors.

Screen 4

This former gym (behind the scene you can still see the locker room) has been transformed into a big space with 111 purple colored seats and playful accents in the carpet.

KINO TRIALS

Before KINO officially opens its doors, it has started with KINO TRIALS on the 16th of september and will do so until halfway next month. The goal is to see how everything is running (including the bar and kitchen). During this period the cinema opens its door at 16:00 and has special programs for various types of people.

This way KINO and its audience can meet each other a little bit before this new place for movies (and more) officially opens its doors on the 20th of October. During the opening week it has special programming. My first look was very positive and already is making me consider a Cineville subscription.

If you area looking for more information you can find it on KINORotterdam.nl.