The new 16CC, will include a bar, a club annex and a screening theatre.

Pim Hermeling, CEO of independent distributor Wild Bunch Benelux, has announced plans to open an art house cinema in the heart of Amsterdam.

The new venue, 16CC, which will include a bar, a club annex and a screening theatre, will be located in one of the city’s most picturesque squares, Kadijksplein.

Hermeling plans to have the new theatre up and running by the early autumn, with a projected opening date of October 2011. He describes 16CC as “a place where film, art and music lovers can come over and watch that special arthouse film.”

Guest programmers from an art/film/music background will be recruited every week to select films and will be there in person to announce and explain their choices.

Film clubs will be welcome and the new venue aims to strike up a close relationship with young filmmakers and artists. Alongside the screenings, there will be monthly art exhibitions and some art work will be available for sale.

The news of the cinema comes as Hermeling returns from Cannes where he has again been on the acquisition trail.

Just before the festival began, Wild Bunch Benelux picked up Julia Leigh’s competition title Sleeping Beauty from eOne. Other acquisitions include Footnote and A Late Quartet from WestEnd Films, Todd Solondz’s Dark Horse from Goldcrest, A Royal Affair from TrustNordisk, the Lars Von Trier/Martin Scorsese Five Obstructions (also from TrustNordisk) and Michael from Les Films Du Losange. Wild Bunch Benelux had already pre-bought Von Trier’s competition title, Melancholia.

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