Cinema Ala Too is one of the very first cinemas in Bishkek, and, moreover, one of the most beautiful. It is located in the heart of the city, next to the “zero kilometer” monument. Located at the crossroads of Chui Avenue and Erkindik, cinema Ala Too is truly a part of Kyrgyzstan’s rich cultural history.
The cinema was built in 1938. Initially the city wanted to name the cinema “Avangard”, but poet Joomart Bokobaev suggested to name it “Ala-Too”. Here residents and visitors historically watched the latest domestic and foreign movies, as well as films for children, and films of Soviet persuasion and influence, as identified by the Soviet People’s Party and government. The building’s relief ceramic panel on its façade appeared in 1970.
The 1960’s and 1970’s saw the “Kyrgyz miracle” in cinema, a time when Kyrgyz films were famous well beyond the country’s borders. Films such as “The Difficult Ferry” as directed by Melis Ubukeev, and “The First Teacher” as directed by Melis Ubukeev, Gennady Bazarov and Bolot Shamshiev were shot in country. Famous Kyrgyz actors Baken Kydykeeva, Bolot Beyshenaliev, Syumenkul Chokmorov, Tattybuby Tursunbayeva played in those movies.
In the late 1970’s the city administration decided to demolish the building as it was considered outdated and inconsistent with the time and landscape. But the city intelligentsia opposed its destruction, and efforts were taken to save and add the building to the city’s list of historical monuments.
“Ala-Too” Cinema, along with the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Kyrgyz and Russian Drama Theatres, and the National Philharmonic has become not only a cultural recreation center but also a worthy architectural monument of Bishkek city.
It is interesting to note that the pavement connecting the two largest cinemas in Bishkek in the 1970’s and 1980’s was called Broadway after New York’s famous street. This is a place where free art, and free or loose morals, reigned. People illegally sold vinyl records of Western musicians, levi jeans, and/or rare books or publications that were forbidden by Soviet authorities and censorship.
