Cinema Center on Krasnaya Presnya

The history of the organization began in 1959, when it was opened under the name of the All-Union Bureau of Propaganda of Soviet Cinema (VBPSK) under the Union of Filmmakers of the USSR ^[1] . In 1970, a group of architects, led by Vladimir Ginzburg and Julius Filler, began designing the building of the future cinema center on Krasnaya Presnya. The money for the project was allocated by the Union of Cinematographers. Due to the large volumes of work and expensive materials, the construction dragged on for almost twenty years. In 1987, VBPSK was transformed into the All-Union Creative and Production Association (VTPO) "Cinema Center", and two years later the cinema began operating in a new building at 15. Druzhinnikovskaya Street. The large hall opened on March 31, 1989 with a screening of the " Great Dictator " , donated to the cinema center by Una Chaplin , the granddaughter of a recognized American actor . The new premises of the cinema center housed the funds of the Museum of Cinema , cinema and exhibition halls. In 1991, Jean-Luc Godard presented the director of the museum, Naum Kleiman, with one of the first DOLBY-stereo systems in the country ^[2] .

In the 1990s, ventilated facades were installed at the facility. According to experts, as a result of the restructuring, the appearance of the building was damaged and lost its integrity in combination with the ensemble of the Krasnopresnenskaya metro station ^{[5] [6]} . In 2004-2005, the Museum had to leave Druzhinnikovskaya Street, and on November 30, 2005 Cinemateka ceased to function ^[7] . As the reason for the eviction, the media called the sale of shares of the cinema center by the Union of Cinematographers, led by Nikita Mikhalkov . Temporary premises for the Museum of Cinema were provided by Mosfilm ^{[8] [9]} .

In 2011, the cinema center received the new name “Nightingale”. The renaming was timed to expand the area of ​​the center to 23 halls ^[10] . Changing the name, the cinema management wanted to attract the attention of viewers to the reconstruction. As a reason for rebranding, the exit of the Union of Cinematographers from the center’s owners is also called ^[11] .

For 2018, the Solovey Cinema is one of the few large non-network cinemas in Russia, has 24 halls and is one of the largest in Eastern Europe . Cinema halls are equipped with modern equipment, including for showing films in 3D format . The repertoire is formed from the preferences of the audience: films do not go out of the box while they are visited. The record was made by the film " Amelie ", which went on the screens of the cinema center for 37 months. The cinema also selectively refers to the choice of new products; not all blockbusters that have gone on a massive rental are on the schedule ^{[10] [11]} . In total, about 50 paintings are shown in the Nightingale halls daily, and in November 2012 a record of 62 films was recorded. In addition, festivals and premieres are held here ^[12] .

Resonance Events

In the fall of 2018, the Moscow government approved the demolition of the cinema center and the construction of a hotel complex in its place with a living area of ​​about 45 thousand m² ^{[3] [4]} . The amount of proposed investments in the new project will be 5-10 billion rubles, the profit from the sale of apartments is estimated at 25-30 billion. The chief architect of Moscow, Sergey Kuznetsov, argued that the demolition issue was open to discussion by the general public, but did not provoke public opposition. However, Muscovites later began collecting signatures against the demolition of the building with the slogan “We will not let you close the Nightingale Cinema Center on Krasnaya Presnya!” ^{[5] [2]} .

In November, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky promised to investigate the situation and send a special request to the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin ^[13] .

• Morozov V. Legends of Krasnopresnensky baths . - M .: AST, 2014 .-- 210 p. - ISBN 978-5-17-081755-9 .

• Official site