橫川戲院!!, Independent movie theater in Yokogawa, Nishi ward, Hiroshima, Japan.
Yokogawa Cinema!! is a small independent movie theater in the Yokogawa district of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima. It opened on 27 November 1999 in a building that had housed a pornographic cinema, and was renovated and reopened on 1 October 2014. Its single screen shows independent films from Japan and abroad, with late-night screenings and guest events.
The site was originally a pornographic film theatre before reopening on 27 November 1999 as a mini-theatre. It grew out of the late-show self-screening programme held at Hiroshima Station Cinema, which closed in 1998. Renovation work began on 7 July 2014 and the theatre reopened on 1 October 2014.
The name doubles as a pun: "cinema" is written シネマ, echoing the old nickname of the Yokogawa area. Screenings are often paired with talks by guests and live performances, and the theatre itself has appeared on film, standing in for a cinema on the ground floor of the hero's apartment block in the 2005 movie Custom Made 10.30.
The theater sits about three minutes on foot from JR Yokogawa Station, making it easy to reach by train. Visitors should check the schedule ahead of time since the film program changes regularly.
Manager Tōru Mizoguchi once worked as a postcard contributor to Beat Takeshi's All Night Nippon radio show; a 1985 book, Beat Takeshi no Kō ka Fukō ka, ranked him in the western jūryō division of such contributors. The cinema itself appears on screen in Sugarless (2002) and Custom-Made 10.30 (2005).
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