Story updated Jan 2nd
The Caprice Cinema in Duncan closed during the holidays.
In a social media post, it was announced the Caprice shut down on December 30, 2023.
Owner Moby Amarsi says a rent hike in 2019, the COVID19 pandemic shutdown, and a slower than expected recovery in movie ticket sales following the pandemic forced the closure.
The Caprice posted that it was “not an easy decision and we understand it was sudden, but know that we are all absolutely devastated by it,” concluding with a heartfelt thank-you to patrons for 10 years of support.
Amarsi says they hope to cooperate with the City of Duncan on the possibility of opening a non-profit cinema to serve the Cowichan Valley.
Canadian movie director Richard Bell calls the loss of the Caprice, and small businesses like it, “demoralizing, particularly for this filmmaker.”
Bell says he treasures the support he received from theatres like the Caprice for his film Brotherhood.
“During an impossible pandemic, it was indie businesses supporting indie film, and I will always treasure the support I received from theatres like the Caprice, cinemas that usually serve real butter, say hello to their patrons, and are run by salt-of-the-earth folks who just love the movies.”
Bell says Cineplex Yonge-Dundas in Toronto was the first and last big chain theatre to show Brotherhood and it was “the independent, mom and pop theatres peppered across Canada that embraced our true story, and sort of turned our release in Canada into a ‘roadshow’ that went on for three years.”
Brotherhood was shown at the Caprice in September of 2022.
