Rio Cinema

The Rio Cinema has shown films on Kingsland High Street since 1909, when it opened as the Kingsland Palace under owner Clara Ludski. The current Art Deco interior dates from a 1937 refit by architect F. E. Bromige, built inside the shell of an earlier 1915 auditorium. Paul Theodorou renamed it the Rio in 1976, and since 1979 it has operated as a registered charity run by an elected board of local trustees rather than a private owner. A second screen was added in the basement in 2017. The building has been Grade II listed since 1999 and screens more than 1,300 films a year, from new releases to a weekly queer film club.