Rodina Cinema

The “Rodina” cinema occupies a corner building on the pedestrian Bauman Street, house 44/8, and is considered one of the oldest cinemas in Kazan. Today it is a multi-screen entertainment complex, but the site itself has been linked to the history of local cinemas since the early 20th century.

The building housing the cinema was constructed in the mid-19th century for the merchants A. P. Smirnov and E. S. Pribytkova — at the time it was an ordinary residential mansion on one of the city’s main trading streets. In 1902, as cinematography was just beginning to spread through Russian cities, two private cinema halls opened at once on what was then Bolshaya Prolomnaya Street, and one of them, housed in the building of the merchant Afanasyev, became the predecessor of the future “Rodina”. Business went so well that five years later the venue received its first permanent name — “Fantasia”. After the revolution the cinema was renamed “Grinri”, and on 27 April 1924 it was nationalised and given a new name — “Unyona”.

The cinema acquired its present appearance and current name in 1938, when it was substantially rebuilt to a design by architect P. S. Borisov — the same architect who had earlier worked on the building itself. A second screening hall, a buffet and a stage in the foyer were added, where an orchestra played before screenings; musicians from Oleg Lundstrem’s orchestra, which became one of the most famous jazz ensembles of the Soviet era, performed here.

The name “Rodina”, chosen on the eve of the Great Patriotic War, proved remarkably durable: despite changing eras and owners, the cinema was never renamed again, although its profile and decor changed over time. Through the history of its names — from “Fantasia” and “Grinri” to “Unyona” and “Rodina” — one can trace the succession of political eras in Kazan itself.

By the early 2000s a large entertainment complex had taken shape on the site of the old cinema, retaining its historic name. Today it houses several standard screening halls and a separate VIP hall with wide-format screens and multichannel sound, as well as a restaurant, a bowling alley, a billiard room and underground parking — from a modest early-century auditorium the cinema has grown into a fully fledged urban leisure centre in the very heart of pedestrian Bauman Street, welcoming visitors from early morning until midnight.

For more than a century of its existence, this place has never stopped being a draw for Kazan residents seeking entertainment: first as one of the city’s earliest cinemas, and now as a modern multifunctional complex that has kept the name and address familiar to several generations of city dwellers.