The Lido Brings Glamour, Romance & The Magic Of Vintage Cinema

The childhood movie buff first learnt about the Glenferrie Theatre, one of two late Edwardian picture palaces on Glenferrie Road, 20 years ago in a guide to Melbourne’s historic cinemas. It had opened as a 1600-seat single-screen cinema in 1911 — well before Camberwell’s iconic Rivoli — yet had closed by the end of the ‘50s. Over the years the space was used for the Lido cabaret and a dance studio. Ironically, Tamir embarked on a postgraduate degree at the nearby Swinburne School of Film and Television. And it was “the hipster bohemian kind of renaissance energy” emanating from Swinburne’s campus, and the retail strip’s groovy stores and eateries, that eventually spurred him on to acquire the property. Still, Tamir’s restoration of Lido is against trend for Hawthorn, where historic residencies are typically being demolished. “We’re not into doing that, which is not necessarily so smart commercially, ‘cause it’s a big challenge — big resources are required to restore things and keep things and build within structures, rather than knocking stuff down and building new — but we do that,” he enthuses. “We like to do it.” Nonetheless, Tamir appreciated, too, that Hawthorn has “a dynamism”.

“It’s a bit like an archaeological dig, this building.”

Tamir and his wife Lindy spent two long years renovating the theatre, uncovering original features — “it’s a bit like an archaeological dig, this building” — such as stained glass windows, ornate ceiling fixtures and a marble staircase. “We’ve found amazing stuff — and whatever was found that’s original we’ve basically highlighted and kept in situ.” Lido brings together the glamour, romance and magic of vintage cinema with innovative technology and the same “foundation” as Tamir’s other indie cinemas in its programming. “We’re a local and we’re an arthouse, so we do the blend. We like the big and the small. We’re not too snobby to play The Avengers and we’re also happy to play an exclusive foreign language film alongside it.” Lido will cater to the local community and is the new home of Melbourne’s Monster Fest and horror genre specialists Monster Pictures, kicking off with an Australian premiere of The Human Centipede 3, actor Laurence R Harvey in attendance. Lido will mirror the area’s multiculturalism, screening first-release Chinese films and hosting 2015’s International Chinese Film Festival. Lido’s most surprising aspect is its seasonal rooftop cinema, which will largely present first-release movies, albeit “with some nuance of retro cult stuff just layered in”. And, in a hyper-modern way, this spot, with beanbags, deckchairs and urban panorama, will be akin to a silent cinema, the residential surrounds necessitating personal headphones be used on the powerful sound system. “So,” says Tamir, “you can have your $600 Beats [by Dre] or you can have our $10 off-the-shelf headphones — whichever you prefer!”