On Friday, December 28, a new cinema devoted entirely to independent films will open in Richmond. Criterion Cinemas, a four-screen theatre owned and operated by Bow Tie Cinemas and located adjacent to their Movieland theatre at Boulevard Square, will host films that previously had little opportunity for theatrical screenings in the RVA area.
The new theatre opens in a building on the Movieland site that has been vacant since Movieland opened in 2009. According to Bow Tie Cinemas owner Ben Moss, the decision to devote the offerings of this new theatre to independent films was "all based on customer feedback. We've been talking to the people who come to Movieland since we opened it almost four years ago, and have gotten very consistent feedback from our customers that they'd like to see more of these types of films," he explained. "We were not able to accommodate that request in the space that we had." But when the opportunity to expand into the other building came along, "we saw the opportunity to do something similar to what we'd done at Movieland, and showcase all of the historic and interesting architectural attributes of the building," Moss said, as well as "mak[ing] it a dedicated facility for these types of films."
The new theatre will feature stadium seating, classic cinema concessions, and 800 well-lit parking spaces. First-weekend offerings will include Danish film A Royal Affair, which received two awards at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival and has been shortlisted for the Best Foreign Film Oscar; and the documentary Central Park Five, directed by Ken Burns.
Criterion Cinemas will also feature a regular program called "DocWeek," which will showcase documentaries during the first week of every month. "I'm very excited about [DocWeek]," Moss stated. "The idea is to feature a range of high-quality documentary titles each week, and hopefully bring things to the market that haven't had an opportunity to be played there." Moss expects the feature to be very successful. "It's something that we think there is a big underserved market for. It's not done in very many markets anywhere."
Further announcements about the first few months of Criterion Cinemas' programming will be made in the coming days on the Bow Tie Cinemas website. Regardless of the specific films the theatre screens, though, Criterion Cinemas will greatly increase the options of filmgoers in the RVA area. Moss promises a high-quality viewing experience as well. "The same level of quality, high-touch customer service and great presentation that you see at Movieland, you're going to see repeated here, but with an offering of films that will be highly unique and, we think, very special."
Criterion Cinemas’ box office will open at 11 a.m. on December 28, and will be open daily until 10 p.m. For show times and additional information about Criterion Cinemas and Movieland at Boulevard Square, visit bowtiecinemas.com.