12/9 Cinema, a rendezvous for couples

(Baonghean.vn) - When it comes to food, Quang Trung Ice Cream is a famous brand, and when it comes to entertainment venues in the city, one cannot help but mention the 12/9 Cinema. This was the meeting place for many couples in love at that time.

12/9 Cinema was so famous that young men from Quang Trung who were of marriageable age and came to visit their girlfriends' houses only needed a brief introduction:

- My house is in Quang Trung, near 12/9 Cinema.

Hearing that, people easily think of the bustling financial district of Wall Street in New York City. The theater was built in 1963, when Vinh town was upgraded to a third-class urban area. The opening ceremony was on September 12, 1964, commemorating the 34th anniversary of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Day with the musical film "Ngôn Hỏa Tĩnh" produced by Bat Nhat Film Company (China).

12/9 Cinema - a familiar place for young people in Vinh City at that time.

After the Gulf of Tonkin incident on August 5, 1964, American planes bombed the North, Vinh city, including the 12/9 Cinema, became the focus of continuous bombing day and night. The theater lobby was hit by bombs, and the Nghe An Department of Culture decided to set up mobile film projection teams to serve the people and soldiers evacuated in rural areas. It took 10 years for the 12/9 mobile film projection team to travel throughout the rural districts of Nghe An to screen films to encourage soldiers and people to hold their guns firmly to protect their homeland.

It was not until 1974, when peace was restored, that the government had the conditions to temporarily renovate the 12/9 Cinema to become a cultural address for Vinh city. In 1978, when the German Democratic Republic provided non-refundable aid from the planning, design and construction of Quang Trung area, the 12/9 Cinema was honored to be planned as the highlight of the multi-storey building area. The 12/9 Cinema was rebuilt according to national standards with 600 seats, stereoscopic surround sound and the most modern sound system and projector at that time.

In 1978, Vinh city was assisted by the Government of the German Democratic Republic. Vinh was planned, constructed and rebuilt properly and more beautifully on the ruins and desolation after the war. 12-9 Cinema was also invested in and rebuilt on a modern scale according to the standards of a national cinema. The equipment was installed with advanced German Sênonl projectors, a screening room with 600 seats, and later upgraded with a Cristy projector system, American stereoscopic surround sound according to international standards.

Multifunctional cinema center 12/9 today.

After the Nga Sau Cinema was abolished, the city only had Cua Dong Cinema and 12/9 Cinema left under the management of Nghe An Department of Culture. At that time, when television was still a luxury, Nghe An Television only broadcast 3 times a week, watching movies became a pastime and entertainment for the people. If you didn't know someone, you had to wait in line for several hours to get a pair of tickets to see the movie at 12/9 Cinema. If you were courting a girl who was still hesitating and could get a ticket to see the movie on Saturday night, it was certain that within 2 weeks you would "take her home".

I still remember the feeling when I won the provincial Maths prize and my parents gave me a ticket to watch the famous Soviet film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” (1973). The film is about the (fictional) life of a Russian intelligence agent named Isaev who worked in Nazi Germany under the name Stirlitz, played by the excellent Soviet actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov. We dreamed of becoming Major Deanov and the main characters of the 26-episode series “On Every Kilometer” is a Bulgarian TV series, telling about the struggle of the Bulgarian people in World War II, the reconstruction and the fight against the destructive forces.

The red flag gave birth to us,
Death does not threaten us.
We are present on every kilometer,
We are there for every kilometer – And so to the ends of the world

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The 12/9 Cinema was not only a luxury cultural address but also a place where many poor Quang Trung families at that time earned a living. At night, with a basket or a tray containing a few sesame candies, a few peanut candies, a few packs of Tam Dao or Bong Sen cigarettes or simply rolled cigarettes, a few grapefruits, persimmons, a pot of green tea and an oil lamp, a family of 3 or 4 people could survive for several days.

An Thanh