Ruya Sinemasi
Istiklal Caddesi 128, Beyoglu-Taksim,
Istanbul
Istiklal Caddesi 128, Beyoglu-Taksim,
Istanbul
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Artistik Sinemasi, Sumer Sinemasi, Kukuk Emek Sinemasi, Yeni Ruya Sinemasi
Nearby Theaters
The Ruya Sinemasi (cinema) is located in the Taksim district of downtown Istanbul. It has a street presence, but the cinema itself is located at the end of a passageway.
For many years it played straight porn movies to mix of straight and gay men. This ended in December 2008. It reopened in January 2009 as a regular cinema as the Yeni Ruya Sinemasi, but was closed on 7th May 2010.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Two recent photographs of the Ruya Sinemasi:
Street facade
http://flickr.com/photos/pulp-o-rama/322914871/
Cinema entrance, from the street:
http://flickr.com/photos/pulp-o-rama/322914794/
can anyone confirm that all adult cinemas in istanbul have been closed on january 2009?
This cinema has been closed since 2010. On Dec. 27th, 2008, Rüya was raided by Turkish police’s vice squad for being a site of gay prostitution. Next month, it was renamed as Yeni [New] Rüya and converted into mainstream programming, eventually even hosting the Istanbul Film Festival. However, it closed its curtains for good on May 7th, 2010. It had opened in 1930 as Artistik, later renamed as Sümer, and later as Rüya. Here is a clip about the Turkish debut of Bambi in Sümer: http://kayaozkaracalar3.blogspot.com/2010/09/1944-magazine-clip-regarding-turkish.html To dylandog30: I cannot confirm if all of the adults-only cinemas in Istanbul were closed in 2009.
More on Rüya: Apparently, it was also named as Küçük Emek for a period. In 1958, Sümer was renovated and re-named as Küçük Emek at the same time as Melek was renovated and renamed as Emek. Both reopened on April 19th, 1958. Küçük Emek was further renovated and renamed as Rüya in 1963, reopening on Jan. 17th. At the time, it was still showing mainstream Hollywood fare.