At the end of March Moscow’s movie theaters were all closed due to the coronavirus and everyone switched to watching films online. But finally, earlier this month Mayor Sergei Sobyanin signed a decree allowing cinemas to open on Aug. 1. The number of visitors in the hall, however, must be 50% of the number of seats.
Although the Ministry of Culture has put an informal ban on serious dramas, there will still be plenty of other genres for cinema-starved customers – comedies, family films and indies. Cinemas are also going to run special programs and retrospectives. More than 25 new films are expected to be shown.
“In addition to new films, there will also be some old favorites. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary Hitchcock film “Psycho” – so it will be back on cinema screens. In early August, the October movie theater will host screenings and gala premieres as a part of the Beat Film Festival,” the Interfax news agency quoted KARO cinema chain CEO Olga Zinyakova .
Open-air cinemas will also open on Aug.1, including Moskino’s first permanent summer movie theater at the Muzeon Art Park.
With the exception of Beat Festival and other special showings, all the new films in cinemas in Moscow will be Russian or foreign films dubbed into Russian. At present there are no films ready to be shown in the original language.
