Hong Kong sees sixth cinema to shut its curtains within the year

Cine-Art House, a cinema located in Kowloon City, will shut for good on coming Monday (August 26), its operator announced, marking the sixth local cinema to close its doors permanently within the year.

The operator said on its social media page on Tuesday that the cinema would permanently shut with the expiry of the lease.

The cinema at Kowloon City Plaza opened in December 2019, positioning itself as an arthouse cinema for non-mainstream productions, before pivoting to screening both non-mainstream and commercial productions.

The operator has been running its business in Hong Kong for more than 30 years. With the closure of the Kowloon City cinema, it will continue to operate two cinemas, Cine-Art House JP in Causeway Bay and Cine-Art House (Maritime Square) in Tsing Yi.

The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, commented on the closure of Cine-Art House, stating that the public should not assume that just because a cinema has closed down, the industry is failing, as there were also cinemas that have been opening recently, with the total amount of cinema seats being similar to previous years or even seeing some growth.

He stated that he would work together with the industry to do better promotion regarding movies and encourage people to spend at cinemas.