On 28 December 1895, at the Indian Salon of the Grand Café in Paris, the Lumière brothers showed the first films in the world: “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon” and “Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat”. Less than fifteen years later, around 1910, the first film screening took place in Bolesławiec.
The first cinema in Bolesławiec operated at Prusa Street (Zollstrasse No. 5) in 1908. Another cinema hall was established in 1909 at No. 2 Market Square and proudly bore the name Metropol Theater. After its change of ownership, Metropol was moved to Chopina Street (Stockstrasse 17/18), where we know it today as the “Orzeł” Centre for Cultural Integration.
The Metropol Theater at Chopina accommodated more than 400 viewers, and as many as seven screenings a week were held there. The façade of the building, which can still be seen today, is decorated thematically with theatrical masks and a curtain being opened by two putti.
The first sound film was shown to local residents here in 1928. In 1930, the feature-length film Atlantic was a cinema hit in Bolesławiec. Interestingly, although it tells the story of the Titanic colliding with an iceberg, the ship’s name was changed to Atlantic in the film after lawsuits were brought by White Star Line, the company that owned the tragically sunken ocean liner.
In 1920, a 500-seat concert hall was established in the Odeon restaurant by the municipal promenade (today the Office Technology building). Film screenings were also held there two or three times a week. The cinema operated there until 1933.
Three years later, in 1923, a modern cinema was established in the town at 17 Görlitzer Straße (today’s Zgorzelecka Street). The Schlesisches Landestheater hall accommodated as many as 600 people, and seven screenings a week were held there. Older residents of Bolesławiec know this place as the Wenus cinema, while younger people know it as the Complex of Commercial and Service Schools.
Next to the cinema, another seasonal cinema operated at the Tivoli Brauerei Restaurant. The summer cinema hall was built outdoors in the garden.
In 1924, a projector was also installed in the municipal theatre (Stadttheater), where films were shown.
On 22 July 1973, the city’s communist authorities opened the Forum cinema. The cinema was part of the Cultural Centre and was maintained by the city. It was not the only cinema in town. Orzeł operated alongside the city’s most popular cinema, Wenus. It was the only one showing films in colour. The cinemas’ programmes in the 1970s included Soviet, Italian, Romanian, British and Czechoslovak films, and even the 1974 American film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. It is possible that the film won the approval of the communist authorities only because it was the story of a single mother, Alice, who had to take care of raising her twelve-year-old son. Among Polish productions, the most popular was the black-and-white melodrama Trędowata.
In 2006, renovation of the Cultural Centre began and was completed in 2008. The Forum cinema also underwent a major renovation. Among other things, modern projectors, two sound systems, stage lighting and comfortable seats were installed.
Renovation of the Orzeł cinema building also began in 2009. The Art Nouveau building had seriously deteriorated and required restoration. The renovation was completed in 2014. The “Orzeł” Centre for Cultural Integration was then opened, with a small cinema and performance hall for 125 people.
In September 2014, a second, intimate 30-seat hall was opened at the Forum cinema. Today, Forum is the only cinema in Bolesławiec that attracts more than 100,000 viewers a year (tickets sold).