It was through a quick search to see whether the Sun Ko Wah (新國華) boutique and bookstore on this picture still existed (it probably does), that I realized that Chinatown’s now-defunct cinema on St-Laurent Boulevard (near René-Lévesque) was also called the Sun Ko Wah! Yes, according to infos on the web, this cinema existed between 1989 and 1995. My memories seem to point to a much earlier period, but the end of it may indeed be 1995, year of the exodus for many Montreal Chinese of previous immigration waves.
In any case, I was still too young in 1995 to go to a movie theatre (and remember really wanting to go to it, despite my young age), and never ventured inside this manifestation of the micro and ethnic cinema in Montreal. When I got old enough to go see a movie by myself, the Sun Ko Wah Cinema became a jewelry shop. Was left behind, a different business at around the same civic number on Clark Street, bearing the exact same name.
This article was originally published on Comme les Chinois.