Asaba To Host Filmhouse Cinema

THE city of Asaba stands to benefit as it has been listed among the cities to play host to new cinemas.
Cinema specialist, Kene Mkparu, the Managing Director and Founder, Filmhouse, recently announced plans to open four cinema houses in Nigeria. The favoured cities that will experience the cinema touch from Filmhouse are Surulere in Lagos, Ibadan, Calabar (Marina Resort cinema) and Asaba.
The launch of the four cinemas is a first step in Filmhouse’s plan to have 25 cinemas within a time frame of six years. The company only recently benefited from the $200million intervention fund from the bank of industry.
The four cinemas that have been pencilled down to take off soon will have all the facilities the ones outside the shores of the country have.
Filmhouse Asaba, which is to be sited on Okpanam road will be a full Gold Class VVIP cinema with automatic reclining five star seats (as if in a first class cabin on an airplane),Gold class lounge, iScream café, soul food brands, Digital 3D, luxury seating and surround sound.
That of Surulere will feature very exciting components such as digital 3D, iScream, café brand, soul food brand, luxury seating and surround sound. The Marina Resort Cinema is a filmhouse cinema in partnership with the Cross River State Tourism Bureau. It will be the first cinema on the Calabar axis and it’s an exquisitely sited sea-view cinema with an iScream café view of the marina, soul food, luxury seating and surround sound.
Filmhouse Ibadan is the showpiece of the Heritage Mall, Cocoa place in Dugbe, it also boasts of features that the others have.
Mkparu, who knows the industry like the palm of his hands, with his team of experts, left Odeon Cinemas (Europe’s largest cinema chain) with the sole aim of raising the bar and redefining the Nigerian cinema space.
Speaking on the new cinemas, Kene Mkparu said, “What we created years ago was only a prelude. Filmhouse Cinemas is here to set new standards for modern cinemas in Nigeria. Surulere, Calabar, Ibadan and Asaba will never be the same again’’.
Corroborating the statement of Kene Mkparu, HR Manager of Filmhouse, Ozioma Sammie-Okposo said, “Filmhouse management and development teams have over 100 years of combined experience in cinema operations and cinema design and build gained from the UK, Spain, Italy, USA and Nigeria.”
When asked about the buy-in points for Filmhouse Cinema, Kene Okwuosa, Deputy Managing Director said “20% of the films at the Filmhouse would be of indigenous African content. We are also looking to improve the employment figures in the country right now by way of creating viable jobs through the cinema establishment. The kind of technology that Filmhouse is bringing to the table with these new cinemas is second to none in Nigeria.