PRINCESS CINEMAS CELEBRATES 40 YEARS 

On Sept. 18, 1985, around 6:45 p.m., a screening of Casablanca played on a 16 mm projector and was the first film that opened the Princess Original. Now, 40 years later, a lively block party and a customary Casablanca screening at their 6 Princess St. W. location celebrated the history and impact the Princess Original has had in the KW Region.   

“If you’re ever looking for a way to disconnect from the phone for a little bit, otherwise you’d be just sitting scrolling, come for 90 minutes or two hours and buy a ticket to see a movie at the Princess,” John Tutt, owner of Princess Cinemas, said.  

Tutt graduated Wilfrid Laurier University with a bachelor of business administration and took as many film courses as he could. At the time, Kitchener did not have an arthouse style cinema, which was unusual when compared to cities of similar sizes like London and Kingston. St. Jerome’s University and the Humanities Theater at the University of Waterloo hosted some experimental film series sporadically.   

About two months after opening, the Princess Original found its audience. Tutt purchased a couple of 16 mm projectors and introduced the theatre’s membership program.  

In 2003, the Princess Twin Cinema opened. Tutt and his team purchased the Alan Rigby House of Furniture location in Uptown Waterloo and converted it into the film house it is now over the course of two years. They opened the Twin because they could not play all the movies they wanted to play.  

Now, Tutt is not as much a part of the planning and marketing of Princess. His son, Jacob, alongside Sophia Irwin, cinema programmer and assistant manager, runs most of the behind-the-scenes work.   

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show is such a staple to the Waterloo Region,” Irwin said.  

The Original Princess Cinema maintains its calendar art-house programming model. They showcase a variety of international, independent and Canadian cinema alongside festival hits, mini-festivals and cult classics. One of Tutt’s favourite events run at the Princess included the screening of Blackberry, a biographical comedy-drama about the rise and fall of Blackberry.  

“We had the director, the producer, ex-engineers, ex-owners, employees of Blackberry, all attending these screenings. The street in front of the Original Princess was just packed with people,” Tutt said.  

Unlike the Original Princess, the Twin Cinemas screen different films every week and host popular hits. The converted two-story retail space has stadium-level seating as compared to the Original’s high-back chairs.   

“I honestly hope [the cinema]continues to do what it’s done for the past 40 years and bring our community together under the love of film, the love of community events and local artists and Canadian cinema, celebrating worldwide cinema, just celebrating the movies and what film can do,” Irwin said. 

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