The Bloor Hot Docs cinema is adding a new screen. Just not any time soon.
Earlier this week, the documentary film website Real Screen broke the story that the recently renovated single-screen Toronto cinema will be expanding.
“As a concept, we’ve only been thinking about it for maybe two or three months,” Hot Docs executive director Chris McDonald told NOW. “But it’s nothing that would happen in 2013, in terms of opening.”
Since re-launching in March 2012, following extensive renovations, the 727-seat Bloor Hot Docs cinema has served as the year-round home of the annual Canadian International Documentary Festival (a.k.a. Hot Docs), with a screening slate leaning predominantly on contemporary and classic nonfiction cinema. It’s ambitious, if delimited, programming paradigm. But the talk of adding a second screen suggests it’s paid off.
“We don’t fill [the theatre] on a regular basis,” says McDonald. “But we’re doing well…There was a bit of a steep learning cure, but we’re confident we can expand on our success.”
The proposed cinema would fit in behind the existing one, using space that was opened up when the main screen was moved forward during renos. McDonald estimates capacity at around 50 seats, stressing that it’ll give the cinema “additional flexibility” in terms of programming.
“It would be nice to have a second space to extend runs or for a classic doc series,” he says. “We could program, for example, experimental or more challenging films, which we think is important.”
McDonald projects that the second micro-auditorium wouldn’t be opened to the public until 2014, as architects are just now being consulted. We’ll keep you apprised of developments as they become available.
