Real Art Ways Cinema
56 Arbor Street,
Hartford,
CT
06106
56 Arbor Street,
Hartford,
CT
06106
3 people
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Good story in the Courant about “go digital or go dark” in relation to the Pleasant Valley Drive-In. This theater among others in the state are mentioned.
What a fantastic art cinema this is!. Not only do they play great films, but they have a very cool art gallery as well. Every third Thursday there is a “Creative Cocktail Party” with a DJ. This is the most eclectic and fun theater in the Hartford area. If you like Art films and live within driving distance, this is the one of two great theaters. Cine studio and Real Art Ways pack a one-two punch for the best art cinemas in the Hartford Area.
This is a fantastic theater. I drove here in June 2005 from Boston with my father to watch the incredible Korean film OLDBOY. The movie was great and intense(my father walked out toward the end) as well as the theater itself. The concession stand offers alcohol to those who ask and the screening room is well maintained. A real gem of an art house theater.
The film projection booth at Real Art Ways Cinema before the showing of the 1994 Polish film Crows (Wrony) by Dorota Kedzierzawska.
Gerald, you picked some of my favorites as well. Thanks for all the nice comments. I have to give props to the Executive Director, Will K. Wilkins, who brought the cinema to life in October 1996 and of course to John Morrison, our beloved Director of Film Programming, who picks all the films. I’ve been with Real Art Ways for five years now and its been a great experience watching it grow. I do need to add that we have the best popcorn and top it with real butter (not that yellow grease that other theatres top their popcorn with) and we sell beer and wine which you could take into the cinema.
Erik Bowen
Cinema Coordinator/Facilities Manager, Real Art Ways
Some movies I’ve seen here that were very much worth the trip from Providence were the Spanish “El Bola,” “Postmen in the Mountains” from China, revivals of the gorgeously-photographed Russian classics “The Stone Flower” and “Sadko,” “I Am Taraneh, 15” from Iran and most recently “The Clay Bird” from Bangladesh. They are all typical of the kind of programming you get at Real Arts. Although I didn’t see it here, “Spellbound,” the spelling-bee movie, was a big success, and a retrospective of Kurosawa films attracted interest. I hope movie buffs in Hartford realize what they have here with this unique theater and the Cinestudio at Trinity College as well.
I love going to movies at Real Art Ways. They would like to add a second screen if they can raise money for it.