Cinema House / Дом кино
ул. Мухиной, 2а
(Остановка: Студия кинохроники)
Tickets: 150 rubles
Cinema House (Dom Kino) is a great place to find lesser-known, independent films from Russia and around the world. This is your local indie theatre, where films turn over quickly, running for only about one or two weeks at a time. Films from around the world are hosted here, including new independent Russian films and foreign films, often picked from the Cannes film festival, among others. A few times a year, film festivals are held at Cinema House for films from different countries. This year there was a French film festival and a Polish film festival, as well as a week of international films. The theatre is quite small, tucked away on a small side-street, which is a bit hard to find the first time you go there. Tickets don’t typically sell out for showings, because the theatre is still relatively small and unknown. You can reserve tickets by calling the box office (42-20-77) during open hours and giving a name and quantity, but you have to pick up your tickets 30 minutes before the show starts to hold onto your seats, in case the film does sell out. Ticket prices at Cinema House are some of the lowest for films in the city: almost all showings are just 150 rubles (compared to 180-200 rubles for films at the mainstream theatres).
I first went to Cinema House to see a new indie film from the director Sergey Loban, which promised to be full of oddity and aesthetically realistic scenes. One of the main reasons I went to see the film is to see a favorite Russian actor of mine, Pyotr Mamonov, in a new role. And he was excellent, as always, although his role in the first part of the film was minor. The film, in two parts, is called Shapito Show: Love & Friendship and Respect & Cooperation, and is full of interesting characters and strange scenarios. Ultimately, if you’re interested in seeing some of Russia’s more alternative, independent films, craving films in other languages, or just looking for something new, Cinema House is definitely the place to go!
Check out their website for upcoming films and showtimes: www.kino-irk.ru
