The number of cinemas is shrinking in the face of so many alternatives but there are rare movie houses putting a new face on the movie palace and bucking the trend.
10 Jun 2014 12:00
Sarah Ward
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New Farm Cinemas is getting a new lease of lifePhoto: ink361
‘Cinema closes down’ or variations of the same mournful lament have become familiar news headlines in recent decades, as beloved theatres around Australia disappear from the movie-going landscape. Every capital city has experienced its share of devastation, from Melbourne’s Greater Union on Russell Street to Sydney’s Valhalla Cinema, and including Brisbane’s The Regent, Adelaide’s Glenelg Cinema and Perth’s Piccadilly Cinema. In small towns, the same story is told, with more pronounced consequences in areas lacking other alternatives. The list of venues that have just narrowly avoided closure, such as the iconic Astor Theatre in Melbourne and the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney, is also considerable.
Sarah Ward is a freelance film critic, arts and culture writer, and film festival organiser. She is the Australia-based critic for Screen International, a film reviewer and writer for ArtsHub, the weekend editor and a senior writer for Concrete Playground, a writer for the Goethe-Institut Australien’s Kino in Oz, and a contributor to SBS, SBS Movies and Flicks Australia. Her work has been published by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Junkee, FilmInk, Birth.Movies.Death, Lumina, Senses of Cinema, Broadsheet, Televised Revolution, Metro Magazine, Screen Education and the World Film Locations book series. She is also the editor of Trespass Magazine, a film and TV critic for ABC radio Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, and has worked with the Brisbane International Film Festival, Queensland Film Festival, Sydney Underground Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival. Follow her on Twitter: @swardplay
