 | |
 | |
| Address | 68 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ludi Kraus |
| Type | Movie theatre |
| Opened | 16 May 1949 [1] [2] |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Labia Theatre is one of the oldest independent movie theatres in Cape Town, South Africa. [3] It is situated in Gardens, an inner-city suburb in the City Bowl.
The original building was an Italian Embassy ballroom opened by Princess Labia on 16 May 1949 as a theatre for the staging of live performance arts. Renowned playwrights such as Robert Kirby staged productions at the theatre. [4] A consortium consisting of the public broadcaster, the SABC and the Department of Sea Fisheries owned the theatre. [5] Films were screened during the periods when no live performances were presented.
From the early 1970s, the cinema was owned by Polish emigrant, Wolf Miknowski. [6] It was facing significant challenges to its survival with the opening of the Nico Malan Theatre (now the Artscape Theatre Centre) in the CBD. [6] Miknowski allowed Eric Liknaitzky to rent the theatre to screen independent arthouse films. [6] Liknaitzky, Trevor Taylor and Tony Velks were among the chief distributors. [6] Apartheid legislation such as the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953 was largely ignored. [6] Mario Veo and Ingrid Burnett then owned the cinema from 1979 to 1989. [6]
The actor, Richard E. Grant was studying nearby at the University of Cape Town and he was a frequent patron of the cinema. For Grant it acted as a "second university", providing him an opening into the world of cinema. [7]
Ludi Kraus has owned the cinema since September 1989. [4] Kraus had previously imported foreign-language films from Europe and arranged their screenings at the Baxter Theatre Centre and the Nico Malan Theatre Centre. [4] Kraus left behind his legal career to concentrate on running the Labia full-time. [4] It has continued to mainly screen cult, classic and art movies, but included more commercial fare too. Much of the original features of the old building have been maintained, such as the ticket booth, sweets counter, and even the seats.
Changes to the theatre, since its inception, have included three more cinemas, a bar and food area, and a terrace. For several years, there was an annex location with two modern screens in the Lifestyle Centre at 50 Kloof Street, but this location was closed in 2013.
In July 2014, the Labia Theatre started a crowdfunding campaign called "Digital Gold." [1] This initiative was to raise funds for digital projectors, new facilities, and an upgraded foyer. The initiative was sufficiently successful, with 885 individuals raising over R550,000. [1] Although well short of the R2,000,000 target needed, the campaign helped rejuvenate the Labia Theatre with digital projectors in all of its cinemas.[ citation needed ]
In February 2012, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) threatened to boycott the theatre and lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) after it refused to screen the documentary Roadmap to Apartheid, which draws parallels between South African apartheid and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, due to its politically controversial nature and what appeared to the theatre's owner to be one-sidedness; the PSC alleged, however, that this was due to local Zionist lobbying, and Right2Know, who were hosting the free screening in association with the Labia and the PSC, accused the Labia of "succumb[ing] to pressure from the Zionist Federation". [8] [9] [10] [11]
Digital cinema refers to the adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be shipped to movie theaters, a digital movie can be distributed to cinemas in a number of ways: over the Internet or dedicated satellite links, or by sending hard drives or optical discs such as Blu-ray discs.
A movie theater, cinema, or cinema hall, also known as a movie house, picture house, picture theater or simply theater, is a business that contains auditoria for viewing films for public entertainment. Most are commercial operations catering to the general public, who attend by purchasing tickets.
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio and steep stadium seating, with the 1.43:1 ratio format being available only in few selected locations.
The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld on the north side of Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom.
The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the first Dolby Cinema in the United Kingdom.
Digital Light Processing (DLP) is a set of chipsets based on optical micro-electro-mechanical technology that uses a digital micromirror device. It was originally developed in 1987 by Larry Hornbeck of Texas Instruments. While the DLP imaging device was invented by Texas Instruments, the first DLP-based projector was introduced by Digital Projection Ltd in 1997. Digital Projection and Texas Instruments were both awarded Emmy Awards in 1998 for the DLP projector technology. DLP is used in a variety of display applications from traditional static displays to interactive displays and also non-traditional embedded applications including medical, security, and industrial uses.
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. It is the largest movie theater chain in the world. Founded in 1920, AMC has the largest share of the U.S. theater market ahead of Regal and Cinemark Theatres.
Rave Cinemas, formerly known as "Rave Motion Pictures", is a movie theater brand founded in 1999 and owned by Cinemark Theatres. It previously was headed by Thomas W. Stephenson, Jr., former CEO of Hollywood Theaters, and Rolando B. Rodriguez, former Vice President and Regional General Manager for Walmart in Illinois and northern Indiana. The chain was headquartered in Dallas, Texas until it was acquired by Plano-based Cinemark Theatres.
Landmark Theatres is a movie theatre chain founded in 1974 in the United States. It was formerly dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent and foreign films. Landmark consists of 34 theatres with 176 screens in 24 markets. It is known for both its historic and newer, more modern theatres. Helmed by its President Kevin Holloway, Landmark Theatres is part of Cohen Media Group.
Ebrahim Rasool is a South African politician and diplomat who served as the South African Ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2015, as a Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2010, and as the 5th Premier of the Western Cape from 2004 to 2008. He is a member of the African National Congress and has held various leadership positions in the party.
Middle Eastern cinema collectively refers to the film industries of West Asia and part of North Africa. By definition, it encompasses the film industries of Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. As such, the film industries of these countries are also part of the cinema of Asia, or in the case of Egypt, Africa.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales. It was founded in the UK in 2004 and incorporated that year as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd. In 2023, The Guardian described it as "Europe’s largest Palestinian rights organisation".
Amy Jephta is a South African playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. Works include Kristalvlakte, Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story, Other People's Lives, Sonskyn Beperk, and While You Weren't Looking. She is a lecturer at the University of Cape Town and the first recipient of the Emerging Theatre Director's Bursary in South Africa. Her work has been staged at The Fugard Theatre, The Bush Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre, Jermyn Street Theatre, Theatre503 and the Edinburgh International Festival. Jephta is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab and was one of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans in 2013. Her monologue Shoes was performed by James McAvoy and directed by Danny Boyle as part of the 2015 show The Children's Monologues at The Royal Court Theatre. She has been a storyliner and scriptwriter on the drama series, Nkululeko, a coming-of-age story set in Khayelitsha for South Africa's Mzansi Magic Channel. Amy also lends her writing expertise to Cape Town-based soap opera, Suidooster, as a story-liner and scriptwriter.
An independent movie theater or indie cinema is a movie theater which screens independent, art house, foreign, or other non-mainstream films. It can be contrasted with a mainstream theater, which is more likely to screen blockbusters and other popular films.
Moffie is a 2019 biographical war romantic drama film co-written and directed by Oliver Hermanus. Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by André Carl van der Merwe, the film depicts mandatory conscription into the notorious South African Defence Force (SADF) during apartheid through the eyes of a young closeted character Nicholas van der Swart as he attempts to hide his attraction to another gay recruit in a hostile environment. The title derives from a homophobic slur in South Africa used to police masculinity.
Kai Luke Brümmer is a South African actor. He is known for his role as Nicholas van der Swart in the film Moffie (2019). The Guardian named him one of the best new-and-up-comers at the 76th Venice Film Festival.
The Projector is an independent cinema in Singapore. Founded in 2014, it specializes in arts-house films and also screens mainstream movies and is a venue for live events such as stand-up comedy shows.
Eric Abraham is a South African-British producer and former journalist and activist. Born and raised in South Africa, he moved in 1977 to England, where he lived in exile for 15 years for his reporting in opposition to the South African apartheid government in the press. He has since worked in theatre and screen, co-founding the London-based Portobello Productions as well as Cape Town's Isango Portobello and Fugard Theatre.
Braam du Toit is a South African composer and choral conductor. He is the recipient of a number of accolades, including a South African Film and Television Award and a Naledi Theatre Award. His film scores include The Endless River (2015), Sew the Winter to My Skin (2018), and Moffie (2019).
Nicole Fortuin is a South African actress, dancer, and theatre maker. Her films include Flatland (2019), Indemnity (2021), and Late Bloomer (2022). On television, she is known for her roles in Roer Jou Voete (2015–2016) and Alles Malan (2019–2022).
33°55′48″S18°24′45″E / 33.93000°S 18.41250°E
