History of the Cinema

The cinema opened as a film house on December 23, 1913 under the name Madison Theatre, making it one of the first picture palaces in Toronto.

By the end of the decade, the Madison was joined in the Annex neighbourhood by Allen’s Bloor Theatre (now Lee’s Palace) and the Alhambra Theatre, both opening in 1919 near the Bloor and Bathurst intersection.

In 1940, under the management of 20th Century Theatres, the Madison was demolished and rebuilt according to the plans of prolific theatre architects Kaplan & Sprachman. All that remained of the original theatre were its two side walls.

In 1941, the newly rebuilt venue opened as the Midtown and remained a popular neighborhood cinema through the 1940s and 1950s, famous for packed weekend matinees and horror double-bills.

By the mid-1960s, theatre admissions across Toronto had declined, and in 1967 the Midtown, under the management of Famous Players, was renamed the Capri. The theatre continued the Midtown’s programming approach until 1973 when, re-christened as the Eden, it switched to heavily-censored adult films.

In 1979, Famous Players closed down the Eden and re-opened it as the Bloor Theatre, offering first-run films for an increasingly family-oriented neighborhood.

Within a year, the Bloor Theatre closed and was taken over by Carm Bordonaro and his partners. When Carm left, the Cinema became part of the Festival Cinemas chain until 1999, when Carm and his brother Paul returned to manage the venue.

In 2010, the Bordonaro family purchased the building to ensure its survival as a cinema. In 2011, the Bordonaros found a like-minded buyer in Toronto-based Blue Ice Docs, a film financing and production company, and its partner, Hot Docs.

After renovations, the theatre reopened in March 2012 under Hot Docs' management as the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, becoming a year-round home for first-run Canadian and international docs, as well as special documentary presentations and showcases.

In June 2016, a generous gift from the Rogers Foundation enabled Hot Docs to purchase the cinema from the Blue Ice Docs, and continue to offer audiences the best in documentary programming at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.

2025 Hot Docs Festival will take place April 24 to May 4.

2025 Hot Docs Festival will take place April 24 to May 4.

Submissions are now open.

History of the Cinema

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