A mini boutique cinema inspired by New York has opened in Manchester – and there are just 38 seats

Newly opened Ducie Street Warehouse, the latest of the city’s heritage buildings to take on a new purpose, houses three independent businesses: a design led apartment hotel by Native, boutique fitness studio Blok, and Cultureplex.

As well as featuring Bistrotheque, a new restaurant from Pablo Flack and David Waddington, Cultureplex includes a lounge, coffee counter with Pollen pastries, events spaces with outdoor terraces, and a boutique cinema which officially opens today.

With 38 reclining seats, 4K digital projection and surround sound, Manchester’s newest cinema space aims to offer guests a high-spec cinematic experience in ultimate comfort, with films hand-picked by programmer Katie Popperwell and HOME’s Jason Wood.

The opening film season for autumn has just been announced and includes special previews, new releases, cult classics, a music documentary season, Halloween horrors and more.

Music documentary Hitsville: The Making of Motown will have a special preview on 30th September including exclusive footage from the film’s star-studded world premiere, while François Ozon’s drama By the Grace of God, based on the on-going Catholic Church abuse scandal, and The Babadook director Jennifer Kent’s brutal second feature, The Nightingale will both preview in October.

New releases showing at the Mini Cini include Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum, starring Matthew McConaughey as a pot-smoking poet; Amanda Kramer’s claustrophobic thriller Ladyworld; and, the much-anticipated Bruce Springsteen concert film, Western Stars, co-directed by The Boss himself.

There’ll also be the chance to see classic films on the big screen, including Antonioni’s existentialist road movie The Passenger starring Jack Nicholson; Nicolas Roeg’s sci-fi classic The Man Who Fell to Earth featuring David Bowie in his first starring film role; Carol Reed’s The Third Man, the definitive British film noir starring Orson Welles and celebrating its 70th anniversary this year with a 4K restoration; and Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon.

And cult classic Mommie Dearest – the outrageously camp biopic starring Faye Dunaway as an abusive Joan Crawford – will have a special screening in partnership with Make a Scene film club, kicking off the queer film club’s monthly residency at Mini Cini.

Plus there will be modern cult hits, including a mini-retrospective of acclaimed French filmmaker Claire Denis; Mark Jenkin’s recently released Cornish classic-in-the-making Bait; Michel Gondry’s surreal epic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; and Denis Villeneuve’s multi award-winning sci-fi Arrival.

An autumn music docs season will celebrate a variety of musical legends, a series of screenings in October will mark Black History Month 2019, and Halloween week films will include a heady mix of horror and hilarity.

“We’re inspired by spaces like the Metrograph in New York and the Rio Cinema in London, small spaces with eclectic, exciting programmes that feel like a really valuable part of the community,” says Cultureplex programme director Katie Popperwell about the new cinema.

“Manchester has a sophisticated population of film lovers, and there’s a growing number of spaces popping up that cater to more niche interests, so it feels like a good time to be taking risks and seeing what weirdness we can get away with.”

Tickets for the Mini Cinema are on sale now, priced at £8 (£5 concessions).

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