VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – There is some rare good news for fans of one of Vancouver’s last remaining movie houses.  The operators of the now closed Denman Cinemas will soon be running the Raja Cinema on Kingsway near Joyce Street.

Owner Naz Jamshedian says the East Vancouver theatre will be the new home to independent film screenings and cultural documentaries.

“We want to do the same kind of programming that we did at Denman Cinemas.  We’d like to not go mainstream and at the same time we’d like to invite people to always do those fundraisers, and so it’s more like a cultural meeting ground than just going to a movie.”

She says it was a perfect fit because she likes how it’s rich in history.

“It’s got a balcony to it and not many theaters.  Those are the old theatres that have a balcony space.  There has to be some renovations that need to be done, but it’s in a much better state than what we went into Denman with.”

It should be good to go by the middle of next month, but there’s just one problem it doesn’t have a name yet.  That’s why she started a contest on Facebook for you to leave your suggestions.

“Some say Collingwood, Carleton, Kingswood, Viva and some have suggested Haida.  That theatre was called Haida long time ago, but Haida was a porn movie theater so we don’t want to go there,” adds Jamshedian.

Opening day is November 13th.