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New Independent Movie Theater On LES Set To Open February 2016
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 24, 2015
Modified Aug 25, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 24, 2015
Modified Aug 25, 2015
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A new, two-screen independent movie theater, called the Metrograph, will open in February in a Lower East Side warehouse. Metrograph founder Alexander Olch said, "Growing up in Manhattan, I fell in love with movies in theaters which are now sadly gone, like The Beekman and The Plaza. To bring glamour, excitement, and prestige back to the exhibition experience has been my longstanding goal."
According to a press release, the Metrograph will be at 7 Ludlow Street (by Canal), with "a restaurant, cinema-dedicated bookshop, café and lounge" and will "feature world-class independent, international, repertory films, and exclusive premieres," thanks to "archive-quality 35mm film and state of the art digital projection."
Olch, who is also a fashion designer and a filmmaker, has spent six years working on Metrograph.
Arts Beat reports, "Michael Lieberman, a spokesman for the project, said the design was aimed at creating an inviting space, with a balcony in the larger theater, which will have 175 seats — the second one will have 50 — and chairs fashioned out of wood salvaged from the old Domino Sugar Factory."
Jacob Perlin, who has worked in programming at the Film Society of Lincoln Center andBAMcinematek, will be the Programming & Artistic Director and Aliza Ma, who has worked at the Museum of the Moving Image, Toronto Film Festival, TIFF Cinematheque, AFI Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival, will be the Head of Programming.
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alexander olch
independent movies
Lower East Side
metrograph
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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