When I was a child, Tartu had two cinemas – Ekraan (“Screen”) and Komsomol. Ekraan was close to where we lived, a few bus stops away, so that was the only one we ever went to.
Ekraan was and is a low, boxy white brick building. Now it has all the conveniences of a modern cinema. But back then it had a single large auditorium, with maybe thirty rows of seats and hardly any rise in the floor. The seats were unpadded, made of thick plywood, dark brown, slightly curved. The cinema sold no drinks and definitely no popcorn, and had no toilet. You always made sure you went to the toilet before leaving home.
Tickets were made of paper. I found this photo of an old ticket from Ekraan at an auction site in Estonia. The row and seat numbers are hand-written. A grumpy middle-aged lady sat in a booth in the entry hall and sold them. When you had chosen a seat, the lady crossed that seat off the seating map, wrote the row and seat numbers on a blank ticket, and tore it off the ticket block.
When the movie was about to start, the grumpy lady moved from the booth to the auditorium entrance and checked your ticket and tore off the stub.
Ma mäletan tollest ajast nelja Tartu kino. Koolivaheaja filme näidati vahel Ekraani asemel ka vanalinnas asunud kinos Saluut, neljandaks oli kinokuulutustest tuttav kino Varia, milles ma küll ei käinud. Meie koolis näidati vahel filme kinoklassis ruumis 208, üks või kaks korda käisin Tartu rajoonis või maakonnas Peedu öises suvekinos, mis toimus lageda taeva all.
You forgot the most beautiful cinema in Tartu with nice statues on the walls and red balcony – “ Saluut”. It was situated near the university, above restaurant “Volga” and it was before Russian time named “Athen”
Õige jah, Saluudi unustasin ära! Seal ei käinud me vist ka peaaegu kordagi. See oli ju vahepeal lagunemas ja räämas, ei mäleta täpselt millal, kas just äkki minu kõige rohkematel kino-aastatel?