Springhaver

Springhaver is a film theatre and hospitality venue located on the corner of the Springweg and the Haverstraat in the historic centre of Utrecht, the Netherlands. It combines a café, foyer and terrace with two cinema screens, and programmes a mix of arthouse films, world cinema and classics. The venue is closely associated with Dutch filmmaker and cinema owner Jos Stelling, who founded it and whose film production company is based on its upper floor. Springhaver opened on 16 February 1978 in a renovated building, initially with a single screen. In 1983 the operation was expanded with a café, which had already been part of the building since 1885. A small machine factory that stood between the café and the cinema left in 1984, freeing space for a second screen, Springhaver 2. A kitchen was added in 1998, strengthening the venue's food-and-drink offering alongside its film programme. The cinema's programme, as advertised on its own website, spans contemporary arthouse releases, repertory classics and special events, often with English subtitles for a mixed local and international audience. Titles promoted on the homepage have included Akira, Downtown, The Cycle of Love, Naza, Juste Une Illusion, Palestine 36, Mother and Breve Storia d'Amore, alongside a broad agenda of older and newer films. The venue also hosts talks, festival screenings and themed sessions such as its Studio Camera horror evening. Because of its founder's production activities upstairs, Springhaver was the base from which the Nederlandse Filmdagen — the event that became the Nederlands Film Festival — was organised. Today it remains an independent, privately run Utrecht institution, known both as a cinema and as a café and terrace in the city centre.

Springhaver was founded by Dutch filmmaker and cinema owner Jos Stelling and opened on 16 February 1978 in a renovated building on the corner of the Springweg and the Haverstraat in the centre of Utrecht. At the time it had a single cinema screen. The name combines the two streets — Springweg and Haverstraat — on whose corner the venue stands. In 1983 the operation was expanded with a café. That café had already been part of the building since 1885, giving the site a longer hospitality history than its cinema use. Between the café and the cinema there was a small machine factory; when it left in 1984, the freed space allowed the creation of a second screen, Springhaver 2. In 1998 a kitchen was opened, adding a fuller food offering to the café and terrace. On the upper floor of the building is the film production company of Jos Stelling. This connection led to Springhaver serving as the base from which the Nederlandse Filmdagen — the present-day Nederlands Film Festival — was organised. The venue thus played a role in the development of the Dutch film festival landscape as well as in Utrecht's cinema culture. Springhaver continues to operate as a film theatre and hospitality venue, with two screens, a café, foyer and terrace. Its programme focuses on arthouse, world cinema and classics, and its website advertises screenings with English subtitles, reflecting Utrecht's mixed local and international audience. Alongside regular film screenings, it hosts talks, festival events and themed sessions.

• 1998

  A kitchen is opened at Springhaver.

• 1984

  A small machine factory between the café and cinema leaves, freeing space for a second screen, Springhaver 2.

• 1983

  The operation is expanded with a café, which had been part of the building since 1885.

• 1978

  Springhaver opens on 16 February in a renovated building in Utrecht, founded by Jos Stelling, initially with one screen.

Independent arthouse cinema and café in central Utrecht, combining film programming with hospitality in a historic building.

• Arthouse and world cinema screenings

• Classic film screenings

• English-subtitled screenings

• Café, foyer and terrace

• Kitchen and food service

• Film talks and special events

1. 1Springhaver Theater Cafe — official websitespringhaver.nl
2. 2Springhaver — Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Springhaver — Dutch Wikipedianl.wikipedia.org