This Friday the 13th one of the bright lights in Winnipeg’s Arts scene will re-open its doors for the first time in a long while.

The Cinematheque Theatre on the corner of Bannatyne and Arthur Street in the Exchange District will open its doors to the public and resume its showing of first-rate independent films.

The theatre has been closed since Halloween of 2020 and in the words of Winnipeg Film Group Interim Executive Director David Knipe “It feels like years since we’ve been open. “ Now that they are re-opening on Friday David sums it up by simply saying “It feels great!”

Cinematheque is opening with safety measures in place. Patrons of the theatre will have to show proof that they are fully vaccinated. Patrons will also need to wear masks until they take their seat, at which time concessions can be enjoyed at ones leisure. The theatre will also be thoroughly cleaned before each screening of the film.

For their re-opening night, David Knipe has chosen a couple of films that certainly will not boar you!  (Pun Intended) The partial theme for this Friday night is pigs. David is calling it the “Pig out Double Feature.” This double feature will showcase the film “Gunda” and the film simply titled “Pig”

As David says “Gunda is an incredibly sonically and auditory beautiful film” Movie fans can see the film at 7:00pm this Friday.

At 9:00 Cinematheque will show the film “Pig” In regards to  “Pig” David says that “it is a very weird and strange film, but it is also very touching, very warm hearted and sad.” One of the perks of the film is that you get to see the great Nicolas Cage play the role of a truffle hunter…what could be better!

Cinematheque is also offering a quasi-midnight screening of Wes Craven’s “Scream” at 11:30pm. As Cinematheque program co-ordinator Olivia Norquay states “I’m so excited about this… it’s one of my favorite movies!” It is also a perfect film choice for the Friday the 13th grand re-opening.

One of the other initiatives that is going on at Cinematheque is that this Saturday, Cinematheque will be launching a series called “Dave’s Faves.” This will be an ongoing series, and will showcase films that were particular favorites of Cinematheque’s long-time head film programmer Dave Barber, who recently passed away. All funds raised from “Dave’s Faves” will go to the Film Fund that the Winnipeg Film Group has started in Dave’s name.

For more information about programming, show times and how to get tickets click here:

https://www.winnipegfilmgroup.com/cinematheque/

To see Chris Wolf’s conversation with David Knipe and Olivia Norquay from Cinematheque click here: