319 in 2008

Continuing my monthly blog posts on cinemas, here are some photos I took at a Canadian film screening event in February 2008 at the (at the time) newly refurbished/reopened Cinema 319.  It was overly schmoozy for me, but I was interested to see Sturla Gunnarsson’s earthy Beowulf & Grendel (with the director in attendance for a post-show Q&A) and took the chance to have a gander at the old Chinese movie theatre I’d never been inside before (originally opened in 1974 as the Golden Harvest, it closed in the early ’90s) before ducking out of the wine and cheese.

Its name has since been changed to District 319 (the 319 comes from the address – 319 Main Street in Vancouver) and the guy who reopened it, Canadian film producer Bill Vince (Air Bud, Capote, Edison & Leo), sadly died in 2008.  It currently seems to be used as a venue for industry and private events, with occasional public preview/special event screenings.  (For more info (and undoubtedly better photographs), see District 319‘s website.)

Starting with outside…

Moving to inside the lobby…

Then into the auditorium (used iPhoto to lighten up some of these as they were so dark – but can’t retro-fix not having held my cellphone very steady when snapping)…

The VIP area at the back (complete with phone – assumedly a direct link to projection booth)…

And a couple attempts at capturing the swanky seating – one better showing the eerily lit Chinese figures on the walls, the other (later, when the house lights were up) better showing how some chairs have ottomans (though neither doing so particularly well – and no closeups of the wall figures? jeez)…

The picture of the post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers (there was also a short film screened: Patricia Grey, by UBC student Anne Koizumi) is even worse so that’s all for this entry.