I love my shop
JADE GRIFFITHS RECENTLY TOOK CHARGE OF THE NAROOMA KINEMA – AN ART DECO CINEMA ON THE NSW SOUTH COAST.
Where is it? 94 Campbell Street, Narooma, New South Wales.
Describe the Narooma Kinema in a sentence. A community and cultural hub with 1920s charm and a century’s worth of character.
What goes on there? We’re a cinema first and venue second, so lots and lots of films are shown. We’re willing to experiment, so you’ll often find a mix of mainstream, arthouse and foreign films on our program. As a venue, we have lots of fun hosting different kinds of events!
How did it all begin? My family purchased the business roughly 20 years ago, and I’ve been in love with it ever since. As a kid, there’s little cooler than watching films for free! They created a reputation for screening quality (and sometimes quirky) films that not many other cinemas would show. The audience responded really well, and that’s been central to the business since then.
Can you tell us anything about the history of the building? It’s heritage-listed, as one of the oldest cinemas in Australia that’s still operating. It was built in 1926 as a World War I Soldiers Memorial Hall, and began screening films in 1956. There was a single screen until 2008, when my father converted an old library inside the building into a boutique cinema. The façade has recently been repainted with heritage colours. It’s probably one of our biggest defining characteristics – it’s a very unique shape, which we love!
Why ‘kinema’? The name comes from the Greek meaning ‘movement’ – as in, moving pictures. It wasn’t unusual to see ‘kinema’ prior to the 1950s. Over time, the ‘k’ became a ‘c’. We’ve just decided to keep it old school!
Tell us about the space. We have a small and intimate Art Decoinspired space. There are remnants of our building’s history everywhere, from the architecture to the interior decoration. We have 1920s posters, vintage projectors, Art Deco fittings – that’s probably my favourite part. There’s something special about watching films in a theatre with its original charm.
Talk us through some of the other events that take place there. We’ve hosted many different events over the years: music concerts, plays, film premieres, burlesque performances, comedy nights. There have been some great Q&AS with film directors, as well. One big stand-out for me was when we had a wedding. We were so flattered that they chose our cinema as their venue!
What do you love about what you do? I love that I get to interact and connect with so many of my customers. Film can be a great entryway into interesting and valuable conversations. I get to witness first-hand how important and meaningful films can be, whether it’s a movie that really resonates and sits with people or one that’s light-hearted and makes someone’s day a little bit brighter.
Are there any drawbacks? Sometimes it can be challenging only having two cinemas. We have to be selective with the films we choose, which means not being able to screen as many movies as we’d like to. But it also ensures we put a lot of thought into the films we screen, so that’s positive!
How can we contact you? naroomakinema.com