Prague cinema Kino Atlas, which closed in December after its former operator couldn’t come to an agreement on a lease extension with the owner of the building, will re-open later this month under new operators.
The cinema will apparently keep the former name Kino Atlas, though it has a new web domain and social media profiles (Facebook / Instagram) under the full name Kino Atlas Praha.
The new operators of Kino Atlas include documentary filmmakers Vit Janeček and Zuzana Piussi, director Václav Kadrnka (Little Crusader), and his wife and producer Simona Kadrnková. Their new iteration of the cinema will reportedly open with the premiere of Piussi’s newest feature, Go Crazy (Zešílet) on March 21.
From March 23, the new iteration of Kino Atlas will screen films from this year’s One World human rights documentary film festival, many of which will be screened in English-friendly versions. Tickets are now available for purchase via GoOut.cz.
The new operators plan to focus on art films and documentaries, which represents a change from the blockbuster-friendly programming at the former Kino Atlas. They also plan to renovate and enlarge the upstairs cafe, and introduce a gallery honoring eclectic Czech documentary filmmaker and artist Karel Vachek, who passed away in 2020.
In addition to art films and documentaries, Kino Atlas also plans to offer several cycles dedicated to classic and cult movies, screenings for students and senior citizens, and Q&As with filmmakers. The operators also plan to offer a scaled pricing with reduced ticket prices for less popular movies.
“Our concept is based on the belief that a condition for maintaining and increasing the number of visitors to our cinema, at a time when films are increasingly available, is to reduce the entrance fee,” Piussi stated through an opening announcement.
“In the past, the cinema was also popular due to the fact that it was cheap. People will willingly pay an expensive entrance fee for big spectacles, for art films it is rather demotivating. We believe that it is better to have a full hall at a lower ticket price than a half-filled cinema for a more expensive entrance.”
Kino Atlas, previously named Kino Sokolovo, is one of the oldest cinemas in Prague. Its functionalist building (which also houses a bank) was designed by two students of famed Cubist architect Josef Gočár, František Josef Stalmach and Jan Hanuš Svoboda.
The cinema ran for more than fifty years in the second half of the 20th century before being devastated by the 2002 floods in Prague. After a complete restoration that included installation of state-of-the-art projection and sound equipment, the new Kino Atlas debuted in 2005.
Distribution company CinemArt took over operations of the cinema in 2013, but couldn’t reach an agreement with the building’s owner to extend their lease at the end of last year.
We recently ranked Kino Atlas the eighth-best cinema in the Czech capital in our rundown of Prague’s top 10 cinemas.
