Somewhere in the Indische Buurt stands a large building that does not immediately betray from the outside what is behind those doors. Studio/K opened in 2007 as the first cinema in this neighborhood, born out of the student organization Kriterion. Since then it has grown into something that is difficult to sum up in one word: three cinema halls, a theater stage, a gallery, a café-restaurant and a spacious outdoor terrace, all on Timorplein 62.
What's special is who is behind the bar, operating the cash register and deciding the programming: about fifty students. No paid managers or outside catering companies, but people here who learn hands-on what it means to run a cultural venue. From the kitchen to the movie theater, from the box office to concert planning, the student team does it all themselves. That approach is reflected in the atmosphere: Studio/K feels like a place of people who love being there themselves.
The movie theaters feature some of the largest arthouse screens in the city. Programming focuses on non-Hollywood cinema, with films from countries such as Turkey, Morocco and India, in addition to the usual European arthouse offerings.
Fifty students run this entire building themselves, from kitchen to movie theater, and you notice it in everything: the energy, the programming, the way the place feels.
Studio/K is in a place you won't accidentally bump into it if you don't live nearby. But that may be its charm. Anyone who has been there once knows why people keep coming back to it. Fifty students run this entire building themselves, from kitchen to cinema, and you notice it in everything: the energy, the programming, the way the place feels.