After closing in mid-March, Cinema Akil will be reopening its doors on Friday, June 12. Dubai’s only independent cinema is located in the arty hub of Alserkal Avenue and now it will be reopened following strict safety and health measures in place.
To ensure safety, Cinema Akil implemented a range of preventive measures as operating under a reduced capacity of 30 percent (particularly, only 35 people). This amount will be regulated by the decision of Cinema Akil to make online bookings only. This will also help in keeping a tab on contacts. No tickets will be sold at the cinema.
The cinema reorganized seats to meet social distancing rules, ensuring a two-meter space between visitors. All the cinema-goes and staff will be obliged to wear a face mask at all times in the cinema. The visitors’ temperatures will be checked before they enter Alserkal Avenue.
The cinema will provide sanitizing stations across the venue, and careful disinfection procedures will be carried out each day. The operating hours are from 06:00 PM to 09:00 PM from Tuesday to Saturday, and only one film will be screened every night. At the moment, children under the age of 12 and seniors over the age of 60 are not allowed to enter.
The first movie will be Michael Winterbottom’s “A Trip to Greece”, the final film of the gourmet travel series following British comedic duo Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. The full schedule of films can be checked on the website.
Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus which is causing illness in humans and animals. Most people infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus will feel mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without any special treatment. Older people, as well as those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness, and require immediate assistance. Novel Coronavirus was first identified in a cluster with pneumonia symptoms in Wuhan city, Hubei province of China, quickly spreading around the world. On early March 2020, the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic had officially started, becoming the defining global health crisis of our time. Today, it is the greatest challenge people have faced since World War II, worsened by subsequent lockdowns of whole countries, collapse of entire industries, and a major economic recession.