Astra Essen

The Astra opened on 18 April 1958 in the rebuilt hall of a pre-war Vereinshaus, a few minutes on foot from Essen's main station, with Romy Schneider in Scampolo. The almost circular auditorium under its double dome and the foyer are still the ones from the fifties, conserved rather than modernised, and 35mm projection sits beside the digital equipment. Since 1995 the house has been run as an arthouse by the Essener Filmkunsttheater, who added a second, much smaller screen, the Luna. The two hold 346 seats. The programme is current arthouse with previews and standing series: the French-language Le cinéma en version originale, the Cinéfête school festival, BritFilms and the queer Homochrom strand. About half of the screenings we list run undubbed.

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