Indie theater The Film Lab to start screening movies October 19

A new indie theater and bar is set to open in Hamtramck.

The Film Lab, which will screen independent and foreign films, is showing its first film, The Lure out of Poland, on October 19. There’s also an opening night party on October 18 from 5 p.m. to midnight, though there won’t be a screening.

Co-owners Lara Sfire and Josh Gardner rehabbed the 1,600-square-foot first floor of the Post 1 P.L.A.V. veterans hall into a bar and 50-seat movie theater. Films will be screened on a 110-inch diagonal screen with a THX stereo sound system, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The theater will show contemporary foreign releases on Thursday and Sunday nights, and the schedule through October includes Rabid (David Cronenberg), The Load (Ognjen Glavonic), and Sister Street Fighter (Kazuhiko Yamaguchi).

Tickets are reasonably priced at $8, with some as low as $5. Eater Detroit has the details on the beverage menu.

We wrote about what to expect the interior to look like in our post announcing the project.

The owners say they intend to preserve as much of the historic details of Post 1 P.L.A.V. as possible. The Holbrook building was built in 1924 and has a distinct brick and stone exterior, as well as a marble bar and retro wood paneling inside. “The space will pay homage to these two design eras, combining art deco motifs with ‘70s swagger.”

Thanks to a $100,000 Knight Foundation grant, The Film Lab will also convert the second floor into two additional screening rooms to seat 75 and 20 people. That renovation is expected to be completed in late 2020.

Gardner and Sfire are both actively engaged in the local film scene. Gardner started Cinema Lamont, which has been screening international films around metro Detroit, and Sfire is a filmmaker and member of the collective The Film Shop.