The Kinopanorama Cinema (the Kinopanorama or the Cinema, for short) was opened in 1958, becoming Ukraine's (and the entire USSR's) first panoramic cinema. The Cinema's spectators were struck with its huge, fascinating screen, with its most beautiful auditorium and with sound "flowing" from everywhere. During design works on the auditorium, distances from each and every chair were measured, resulting in the unique acoustics. Needless to say, at that time and over the following 40 years the Cinema was Kiev's central point: children would skip school to go to the Kinopanorama, people would make a date by the Cinema and the atmosphere, created by the dark auditorium and by the sound of old cinema projectors, would start romantic relationships. New generations of Kiev residents still love the Cinema, which refuses to enter the mainstream cinema business, but instead lives its own, independent life.
Being one of Kiev's oldest cinemas, for over 50 years the Kinopanorama has maintained its tradition of showing the world's best films: ranging from always-popular blockbusters to new tendencies in European cinema. In the intellectual world, the Cinema is known for its long-time history of showing festival films and of retrospectives of the world cinema's masters: New French Cinema, Contemporary Czech Cinema, Greek Cinema, Bavarian Cinema and so on.
The Kinopanorama has always been and remains a place that unites the Ukrainian intellectuals. The Cinema hosts premieres of Ukrainian films, anniversaries of and evenings with Ukrainian actors, directors and artists.
There is no such cultural figure who, having come to Ukraine, would not go to the Kinopanorama and would not leave his or her autograph. The Cinema has been visited by millionaires and dissidents, producers and writers, artists and actors. Here, the dissident cinema director Sergey Paradzhanov talked about his film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (he visited the Cinema during the first year after his release from prison). Here, the first evening commemorating the actor Ivan Mikolaychyuk and the first evening commemorating the actor Nikolay Grinko took place (that time the French actress Marina Vlady sent a telegram expressing her gratitude to the Cinema). Here, founding fathers of Portuguese cinema as well as ambassadors of Canada, France, Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia talked about art. Ivan Shvets, the rector of the seminary, left his inscription on a wall of the Cinema, while the Polish actress Barbara Brylska said: "I wish Warsaw had a cinema like this." Here, the cinema director Stanislav Govorukhin left a writing, "I love you", on the wall, while the actors Vladimir Menshov and Vera Alentova expressed their appreciation.
The Kinopanorama tries to make everything possible to please those who like watching big films on the big screen. The Cinema has a reputation of a friendly cinema that cherish every spectator. Students like the Kinopanorama for its "democratic" ambience, while senior people like it for its slightly nostalgic atmosphere.
The Cinema has two auditoriums, a large auditorium (seats 405) and a mini-auditorium (seats 15), a bar offering low prices and a cloakroom; at the Cinema, ticket prices are most affordable, and there is a flexible system of discounts.
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The Cinema ha...