Cine-Art House Closed Down

Cine-Art House in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, which had been playing mainly non-mainstream movies for 18 years, has closed down after the 9:30 show was over last night.

On the last day of running, the cinema put on 5 movies for free, including The Birth Of New China (China, 1989), Hibiscus Town (China, 1986), Postman In The Mountains (China, 1999), I Want A Home (China, 1992) and Starry Night [note: this is not an official English name] (China, 1997). Tutorial Teacher [note: this is not an official English name] (Taiwan, 1983) was also played as the last pay-to-view movie.

There were many movie fans and retired Cine-Art employees on the cinema's last day. Directors Ng See Yuen, CHeung Tung Cho and actress Luo Lan were among the ones. Luo Lan claimed it is sad to see the cinema closed down.

A spokesperson of Cine-Art said if the cinema can find a right spot to relocate, there would be a chance for it to reopen its doors. The projectors which played over 800 movies since the cinema's opening will be donated to the Hong Kong Film Archive.