During these trying and uncertain times, we hope to be able to spread a little bit of love and movie magic by showcasing some of the wonderful exhibitors that we work with.
We spoke to Jan de Vries, the co-founder and artistic director of KINO Rotterdam about the role of cinemas in society, the importance of preserving the big screen experience, and more.
Tell us a little more about you and your cinema.
My name is Jan de Vries and I'm the co-founder and artistic director of KINO Rotterdam. A four screen independent cinema in the center of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. We exhibit a mixture of premieres, classics and special events. We screen what we love and try to convey that enthusiasm in an informal manner – in our promotion but also by introducing most of our special classic screenings to provide context and motivation with our choices.
What is your earliest cinematic memory?
Not sure about the exact year but around 1989 I saw Hugo van Lawick's film People of the Forest: The Chimps of Gombe. A documentary shot over a twenty year period about a chimpanzee family being slowly but surely driven from their habitat by human activity. This film introduced me to the power the big screen harnesses to transport you to a completely alien environment through image and sound. It had a profound impact on me and started the love affair with the cinema experience I have to this day.
The Skin I Live In (La Piel Que Habito) (2011)
Why do you think the collective cinema experience is so important for audiences?
It's that great feeling you're discovering something together or experiencing a film you love with like-minded people. It can be a quiet appreciation for the transcendent work of Tarkovsky or collectively quoting "consider this a divorce" while watching Total Recall. That's just great fun. The big screen experience can't be reproduced at home and it's hard to stay focused outside of the movie theatre. Just to note: I don't endorse quoting along during a screening, but you get the idea.
What do you take into consideration when programming for the cinema?
For our new films, we look at a right fit with our audience so that can be very broad. For our classics, we try and find a current hook but it can be a variety of factors. We try to umbrella different kinds of films under a common theme, for instance. So people give a film they might not know a chance because it's advertised with one they have heard of. For example, we did a programme called 'Face Value' about losing one's own face and therefore identity. This programme featured John Woo's Face/Off and Almodovar's The Skin I Live In, but also lesser-known titles like Eyes Without a Face and Seconds. But in short, we programme what we love and try to share this love with others.
What impact has the current extraordinary situation had for cinema in the Netherlands in general and Kino Rotterdam in particular?
All cinemas had to abruptly close on the 15 March, and only opened our doors in June for the first time to a maximum of thirty people per screening. It's been tough, but that's been that way the world is, so we're just happy we could tough it out. There's been good communication and information sharing between cinemas and how to implement the infrastructure to keep patrons safe during a visit to the cinema. But as with so many things during this crisis, we'll have to learn through experience and the coming days and weeks.
Total Recall (1990)
