In Basel, a cinema is a grand dame in the form of 104-year-old theater Kino Borri, established in 1906 by a Jesuit priest named Alexis Joye. Abbé Joye started out running an orphanage and home for apprentices in 1886 first called “Vinzentianum” and subsequently “Borromäum”, which became a famed meeting place for young Christians. As a human being with both a social and cultural fondness, Joye shortly realized the red-hot trend of movies would be an useful appurtenance to his events, hence launching the first Kino Basel.
This cinema is part of a group of 12 small indie movie theaters in Basel. In other cities focus on to large multiscreen centers, the city of Basel is preserving the tradition of what is locally called “studio kino”: art movie. Now, the Cinema Borri posesses one of the biggest collections of movies from the first decades of the medium, also thanks to this pioneering parish.
In summer, the open air cinemas are all over the city: in squares as well as near the swimming pool. The main opean air cinema surely is Orange Open Air. During two weeks, major movies are screened on the Münsterplatz square, in addition to previews, special nights and premieres. For art movie fans, the Neues Kino screens classics on the roof of an old corn tower in the Rhine harbour. In addition to the Cinema Borri, there are about forty movie screens in Basel, showing all big Hollywood movies along with some European and foreign films. All films are screened in the original language with German and French subtitles.
Basel is a European cultural centre: almost 40 museums, some of world renown, such as the ‘Fondation Beyeler’ and the ‘Kunstmuseum’, the Basel Theatre presenting plays, operas and ballet, 25 small theatres, a musical stage, countless art galleries, and the cinema scene contribute to a wide cultural life. Basel ranks with the European élite in the fine arts, as is demonstrated by its hosting ‘Art Basel’, the world’s number one contemporary art fete.