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Movie theatre magic

The charm and changing fortunes of cinema buildings.

The speed with which cinema caught the public鈥檚 imagination is remarkable. The first film screenings took place in the 1890s and just two decades later, in the US alone there were thousands of nickelodeons and other spaces where you could watch a movie. Luxurious picture palaces followed soon after and not just in the West: some of India鈥檚 Art Deco cinemas are real feasts for the eyes. But the arrival of TV fundamentally changed our relationship with movie theatres and they have struggled to remain central to our film culture ever since.

Iszi Lawrence explores the 120-year development of movie theatres with film historian Professor Ross Melnick, Professor of Cinema Studies Daniela Treveri Gennari, cinematographer Hemant Chaturvedi who is documenting India鈥檚 historic cinema buildings, Chinese cinema researcher Professor Jie Li and World Service listeners.

(Photo: Old Tofo Movie Theatre, Inhambane, Mozambique. Credit: Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images)

Release date:

49 minutes

On radio

Sat 26 Jul 2025 11:06GMT

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  • Sat 26 Jul 2025 11:06GMT
  • Sun 27 Jul 2025 02:06GMT
  • Sun 27 Jul 2025 13:06GMT
  • Sun 27 Jul 2025 16:06GMT
  • Wed 30 Jul 2025 09:06GMT
  • Wed 30 Jul 2025 23:06GMT

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