Culture Ministry to Rescue Troubled Arts Cinema
The debate over whether Artis, an arts cinema in Tallinn's Solaris Center, should be declared bankrupt or continue operating ended yesterday with the Ministry of Culture announcing that it will subsidize the establishment with 300,000 euros per year.
The cinema, which belongs to the country's oldest film studio, Tallinnfilm, and is managed by the Film Foundation, offers a specialized selection of mostly European and Asian films.
Despite a following among film fanatics, the establishment has had problems making ends meet since it moved to the Solaris Center in 2009.
This year, the 810-square-meter, two-hall cinema has to cover 200,000 euros in rent and another 105,000 euros in utility costs. It must also pay back its nearly 293,000-euro construction debt and other debts amounting to 170,000 euros, Postimees reported.
The cinema is locked into a 10-year rental agreement for the space and would have to pay rent for the entire lease period if it were to back out.
Ingrid Teesalu
