Black Maria Cinema is the latest addition to current microcinema in the country as it opens it door on November 2017. Microcinemas have been slowly popping up all over Metro Manila giving the masses more options other than the movie theaters offered by malls.
Black Maria Cinema is an 80 square meter and is located at 779 San Rafael Street, SQ Film Laboratories Building, Plain View Mandaluyong City. It is an unassuming place as it actually houses three businesses- the cinema, a production company (Black Maria Pictures) and a cafe (Santiago’s).
It takes pride in being a local production house that was purposely built as a Dolby Premiere Studio-complaint 7.1 sound mastering stage, and wired for great cinema experience.
Also, its production house has worked on commercial, movie trailers, and music videos for 45 years now (including Cinema One Originals Festival’s 2015 Best Picture, Manang biring).
The Black Maria Cinema offers:
- 30 cinema seats and can be expanded to 40 cinema seats
- 20-feet silver white screen
- 2K NEC NC900C Digital Cinema Projector
- Doremi Showvault Cinema Server
- 35mm Christie Projector
- Dolby Digital 7.1 Surround Processor
- JBL Cinema Speakers powered by QSC Amplifiers
In 2004, when the film 35mm celluliod became obsolete in the country, Black Maria Cinema as its new branding and new name have started clearing equipment out of its headquarters. The vacated spaces paved the way to putting up a cafe called “Santiago’s”, while also opening the company’s existing pos-production cinemas to the public.
Angelo Santos, the president of Black Maria Cinema shared how they got their inspiration of putting up a cafe, “We took inspiration from the cinematheque and specialty coffee movement.
Notable indie films and foreign movies had been shown in Black Maria Cinema since its operation. and because of the need for filmmakers to showcase further their works, Black Maria Cinema decided to be an alternative avenue in exhibiting films that failed to score longer screening days.
Black Maria Cinema envision to be part of the growing microcinemas in the Metro and guarantees an unforgettable movie experience for those who will come and view the films.
