(View of Nairobi Cinema taken from the balcony, last row).
Nairobi Cinema built in 1972. It is housed in Uchumi House on Agakhan Walk.
I think it was the first cinema to be constructed since the early 60s in Nairobi or Mombasa. No other cinema was constructed during the 1970s to mid 1990s!!
The Nairobi Cinema was usually in the top 3 cinemas in box office revenue and attendance.
Unlike any other cinema in Kenya it had a curved screen which meant you could sit at the end of a row and still see the screen as if you were sitting in the middle!! The projection room was downstairs at the back of the stalls. This was also unusual. Almost all cinemas at the time had the projection room placed at the back of the balcony. Placing the projection room at the back of the stalls meant more higher price seats could be placed in the balcony!
It had 850 seats. As seen below all the seats were lush red comfortable seats. Royal circle had one row. This was the front row seats in the balcony which was separated from the other rows behind by a low partition.
After purchasing the tickets you had to climb the outdoor stairs to reach the lobby. If it was raining you would be drenched. Once in the lobby you had to climb more stairs to reach the circle (balcony).
This cinema was leased by ICDC (government parastatal) to the ICDC owned Kenya Film Corporation...it meant new blockbusters from Paramount and Columbia pictures released thru KFC did not have to play at the competitors Kenya and 20th Century cinemas.
Nairobi Cinema operated from 1972 to 1995. It was a very successful government venture!!
As it was owned by the government it did not suffer the same fate as other historic cinemas. It was never renovated to other uses such as offices and shops. Today it is the Nairobi Film Centre run by the Kenya Film Classification Board. The objective is to facilitate local movie producers.
