Curtain drops on Cowichan Valley’s only movie theatre

The curtain has fallen for the last time at the Cowichan Valley’s only movie theatre.

Duncan, B.C.’s Caprice Cinemas filled its seats for the last time on Dec. 30, announcing its permanent closure and shocking locals.

“It’s kind of heartbreaking that its closing down, it’s disappointing,” said Lisa Downey, adding she’d frequented the theatre since her teens.

“What can we do? Watch Netflix at home.”

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Duncan resident Jack Connolly told Global News the venerable cinema was “more humble” than the state-of-the-art theatres in Victoria, but that it provided a unique experience of its own.

“It was never the most skookum screen, the most immersive screen, but it’s our Duncan screen,” he said.

“And the butteriest popcorn was here. And if you just wanted to see a movie in your town, and it didn’t have to be this big Hollywood production, it was here, and it felt like our home town.”

Theatre owner Moby Amarsi said he made the hard call to shutter the business amid surging costs.

“Before COVID the landlord raised our rent by 300 per cent. And that may have been sustainable at the time, but post-COVID we just never recovered. It was just becoming very, very difficult,” he said.

Amarsi said he was three months behind on rent and the landlord wanted an additional $40,000 in unrelated expenses, and in mid-December gave the business 15 days to come up with “a large amount of money” or vacate.

“It was a very tough decision. It’s an emotional one too,” he said.

“We’ve been there for 10 years and its not easy to give up something you’ve worked so hard at, but it had to be done, we didn’t have a choice.”

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While the Caprice will remain permanently shuttered, Amarsi said he’s not giving up hope of keeping the silver screen alive in Duncan.

He said other small markets like Nelson and Powell River have been successful at operating a movie theatre as a non-profit.

He told Global News he was hopeful a deal could one day be worked out with the city to set up a cinema under that model in a new location.

“We’re not giving up hope,” he said.

“It’s just maybe a different approach needs to be done to be able to accomplish the same end goal.”

For the time being, Cowichan Valley cinephiles who want to catch a film on the big screen will need to make the nearly one-hour drive to either Nanaimo or Victoria.