Varna

The year 1904, when the owner of a cinematograph Vladimir Petkov settled in Varna, can be regarded as the beginning of cinema in the town. He screened his first movies in the beerhouse ‘Chervenia rak’ [The red crab] located close to the entrance of the Sea Garden. Subsequently Petkov moved to Sofia but came back to Varna again, where he founded his own cinema theater called ‘Nezavisima Bulgaria’ [Independent Bulgaria] in the ‘Saedinenie’ Hall. In the summer of 1909 a new cinematograph ‘Ideal’ arrived in the town and started showing movies in the ‘Hadji Panako’ Hotel.

In 1910 ‘Nezavisima Bulgaria’ became a branch of Sofia’s ‘Moderen teatar’ [Modern theater] and continued to screen movies in the ‘Saedinenie’ Hall.

The 1910-1912 period was a period of rise in the distribution of cinema in Varna as movies were showed in three halls: ‘Saedinenie’, ‘Proshek’, and ‘The Hall of Kosta Rankov’ founded in 1911 by Kosta Rankov for both movies and theater plays.

During the summertime screenings were held in the garden of the ‘Grozd’ [Cluster] Restaurant, the garden of ‘Cherven rak’ as well as in the Sea Garden where the company of Gizela Petrova founded a summer cinematograph in the summer of 1912^[1].

[1] Дряновски, Б. Варна през 1878–1944 г. – История на Варна. Т. III, Изд. „Славена“, Варна, 2015.

References

Bibliography:
Библиография:
Дряновски, Б. Варна през 1878–1944 г. – История на Варна. Т. III, Изд. „Славена“, Варна, 2015.