First Cinema Opens in Coldest Place on Earth
The Extra Cinema network has launched 95 movie theaters across seven Russian regions, extending cinema infrastructure to an estimated 245,000 residents. The project targets small settlements where public access to large-screen screenings was previously unavailable.
Infrastructure deployment is focused heavily on the Arctic and Yakutia, including remote locations in the Oymyakon district. In the village of Oymyakon—home to just over 800 people—mass film screenings had been absent since the 1990s.
Ulyana Zakharova, resident of Oymyakon: "The opening of the cinema hall was eagerly awaited. The road from Yakutsk to Oymyakon is long—one and a half thousand kilometers. And now there will be cinema even at the Pole of Cold!"
Logistics in these regions are constrained by geography; access to Oymyakon relies on a seasonal road spanning 500 kilometers. Currently, four Extra Cinema halls operate within the district, located in the villages of Oymyakon, Tomtor, Orta-Balagan, and Yuchugey.
Technical Procurement and Content Production
The project utilizes projection technology developed in Yakutia. Following a 2023 presentation of these solutions to Vladimir Putin, the president instructed the government to evaluate the potential for nationwide implementation of these projectors.
Aisen Nikolaev, Head of Yakutia: "I am glad that today, under challenging conditions, we are providing residents of our most remote Arctic districts the opportunity to watch movies on a large screen in excellent quality."
The expansion of the theater network coincides with an increase in local content production. By the end of 2025, box office receipts for Yakutian cinema reached 280 million rubles—nearly double the figures from the previous year.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total opened halls | 95 |
| Audience reach | 245,000 people |
| Yakutian cinema box office (2025) | 280 million rubles |
To further establish the regional industry in the Far East, authorities in the republic are initiating the design phase for a multifunctional cinema pavilion.
Source: This article was adapted from an original Russian-language publication by Pravda.Ru<///a>.
Details
Oymyakon is a rural locality (a selo) in Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located in the Yana-Oymyakon Highlands, along the Indigirka River, 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway. Oymyakon is currently the coldest permanently inhabited human settlement on Earth.
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