Rainbow Cinema premiere of The Bulawayo Show
Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
BULAWAYO Rainbow Cinemas has closed down under unclear circumstances leaving movie and theatre lovers with few entertainment options.
Rainbow Cities 1, 2, 3 and 4 situated at the Bulawayo Centre have been closed for over two months with speculation that management – City Cinemas – failed to pay over $30,000 in rentals and other bills. The cinemas are operated under Independent Pictures Private Limited.
According to sources, the Deputy Sheriff swooped in and attached projectors and other movable property at the movie house which was already rundown. Rats and mice could easily be mistaken for characters in movies as they moved freely among seats during screenings.
Failure to secure 3D equipment to screen films and movies at the Rainbow Cinemas lowered standards as it was no longer a pleasure watching movies there. The choice of movies was also poor as most were not current, compared to Ster Kinekor in Harare.
As part of efforts to sustain the business since not many people were patronising the venue save for a few naughty youths who had other intentions, the cinema was now being used for church services on Sundays. The now defunct company risks being taken over by churches like Word of Life which took over Kine-600, Family of God – Bulawayo 7 Arts Theatre and Life Spring Ministries – Vistarama.
The closure follows Rainbow Cinemas in Harare which closed shop two years ago amid revelations of failure to pay utility bills, rentals and salaries amounting to more than $90,000. But the Bulawayo closure has greatly affected filmmakers who say it is a major blow to the film industry that was beginning to reclaim its former glory.
Cartoon strip, The Bulawayo Show, is one of the affected parties as they had found a home in the cinema.
“End of era!!! Sad to hear that the Rainbow cinema has closed down. On August 26, 2014 we launched The Bulawayo Show at the Rainbow cinemas, it was a full house and from then, we’ve never looked back. “We were still planning to have more shows there and we’ve been left with no option but to look for an alternative venue.”
The Bulawayo Show, which was launched two years ago, commanded a full house when it launched. They had to hire two cinemas for their second show as it was oversubscribed.
Playwright and film critic Raisedon Baya said the closing had left youths with no alternative decent activities that they can do during their spare time.
“So with the cinemas gone, what are the entertainment options for our young people? Vuzu parties,” quizzed Baya. He said he hoped Rainbow’s sister company, Elite 400, would not close down as it is the only remaining movie house in the city. Efforts to get a comment from City Cinema’s board chairman Garikai Nemu were fruitless yesterday as his number was unreachable.
A source close to the development however said: “Knight Frank, who manage the building on behalf of the NRZ pension fund, want their money so they’ve attached the property at the cinemas.
“They want to recover their money for rentals and bills.”
Last month, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services permanent secretary George Charamba said the government had purchased film-making equipment for people who want to do pre and post production of their content. Rainbow Cinemas had been identified as an outlet for the screening of local movies.