The Bioscope Independant Cinema

The Bioscope is an innovative independent cinema located in downtown Johannesburg, on the east side of the city. The doors to its permanent and exclusive space opened on the 8th June 2010. The aim of the cinema is to increase the diversity of content on South African movie screens. In bringing new films to new audiences, The Bioscope is striving to grow new markets for new films, and are proud to be involved in developing local audiences for locally & internationally produced cinema. As well as play our part in developing Johannesburg’s quickly regenerating inner city.

The Bioscope found its first home in Arts on Main. Arts on Main is an artist’s residency/ oasis of everything arts related, with shops, restaurants, and galleries, all located within the Maboneng Precinct. From the the beginning, its developer Jonathan Liebmann envisioned a cinema in Arts on Main. Collaboration agency Red Team Go developed The Bioscope as a way to make use of this amazing opportunity. Darryl Els and Russell Grant collaborated based on Els’s academic work in the field of independent cinema exhibition, and thus The Bioscope was formed.

The Bioscope found its home in Maboneng’s latest development Main Street Life, a transformed 1970s industrial building that has become a mixed use complex offering residential studios, retail shops, a rooftop events venue and a boutique hotel. All located just down the road from Arts on Main.

Location