I’ve not been in the Hackney area for a while so on a visit this evening I was surprised to see the new Hackney Picture House, opened in late October last year and which forms part of the small independent cinema chain that also includes a sister venue just down the road in Stratford.
The Picture House occupies what was the site of the ill-fated Ocean club (and previous to that Hackney’s central library) opposite the Town Hall and the Hackney Empire on Mare St. It has 4 screens, each with a distinct and rather funky design, as well as a ground bar and restaurant (which serves beer from the London Fields micro-brewery very close by). To reflect it’s relatively recent musical past, there’s also the Hackney Attic which sits up in the roof of the building and offers a varying menu of live music, comedy and performance.
Given the art scene that is slowly creeping its way towards Hackney from both Dalston and Shoreditch I think this is probably the right time for a new cinema venue in the centre of Hackney – looking at the Hackney Picture House’s current listings there’s a nice mix of Hollywood blockbusters and edgy independent films, which I’m sure will be a good fit for the local community. Good luck to them!
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