Roxbury cinemas in Grahamstown is one of the country’s few independently owned movie houses. One thing which made it different to other movie houses was large scale charcoal drawings in the foyer with scenes from iconic films. These included King Kong, The exorcist, Terminator 2 and The Godfather. Sadly, renovations to the cinema has meant the artworks had to be sold.

Instead of flashy billboards advertising upcoming movies these artworks captured moments from classic movies, presented in black and white. It gave the feeling that you were walking into a place that respected great movies. It was a tribute.

This was before the cinema had to renegotiate its space to the fourth PEP store in town, hmm... do we really need another one? Either way the cinema's five-year lease came to an end.

Great cinema moments include: the Mafia leader Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather listening to a messenger whisper into his ear; Frankenstein holding his zombie Bride’s outstretched hand; and Arnold Schwarzenegger toting a shotgun in Terminator 2.

Roxbury cinema owner, Johnny Kluivers, feels attached to the work but said the new space needs a new look.

Johnny relates his childhood to the kid in Cinema Paradiso, a 1988 Italian film about a film director's childhood years when he developed a friendship with the fatherly projectionist. When Johnny was 13 he operated the projector for his dad's cinema house, the Odiom.

Johnny obviously has a great appreciation of movies but decided to sell the art because he "didn’t want a smaller version of what we had" and he thought of his most popular customers.

“Younger people can’t really relate to them. It appeals to an older audience,” he said.  

Well, most young people don't know what's good for them.

Johnny said he did not expect to sell, which is surprising since the art was sold at very low prices. The twelve drawings were originally commissioned at R30 000. And the total sum of the works on sale, including framing, was R17 250. One work was selling for R900, which is what the Perspex alone costs.

Perhaps, it is time for the drawings to move on, because they have been on display for 10 years. The artist, Richard Klippert, is relieved for the change. “When I did them I really didn’t think they were going to stay there for so long,” he said.

Richard graduated from Rhodes University in 1994 with a Bachelor in Fine Art. And he has not stopped the creative juices flowing. Now he works as a lecturer at Vega School in Cape Town.

He remembers what first interested him in the commission in 2000.

“Johnny and I had been friends for a while and he had always had this idea of pimping his cinema into a classy space, different from mainstream advertising dumps.”

Richard hopes the collection might find a

space in a theatre or film school in Cape Town.

For now, the iconic drawings wait upstairs in the storage area, near the projector. Grahamstown is not only losing great art but forgetting great films. It is a bittersweet kiss goodbye.