Latest news with #Kan-Kan
Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Kan-Kan Cinema is elevating Indy's cinema culture
Kan-Kan Cinema is keeping Indianapolis's love for cinema alive. As an independent arthouse theater, Kan-Kan stands out from its movie theater counterparts. It's home to frequent community events and programs in the Windsor Park neighborhood. It's cozy, intimate and a bit eclectic. More importantly, it lets filmgoers watch movies that other theaters don't show. Khaled Khlifi, Kan-Kan's creative and marketing director, told me Kan-Kan showed over a dozen films last year that few theaters picked up nationally. Some were available nowhere else in Indiana. More from Sadia Khatri: Purdue, IU abandon student newspapers, diminishing campus voices 'We really do see ourselves as fulfilling a little bit of a niche in the city for making this a film city in the same way that things open in New York or LA and Chicago only,' Khlifi said. Kan-Kan's popularity has much to do with how the theater views moviegoing as an art experience. Movies aren't a revenue stream — they're a lifestyle. The theater exists through the nonprofit Indianapolis Film Project. Kan-Kan's primary goal isn't to rake in as much money as possible, but to instead help film thrive. 'With our memberships and with individual donations and with corporate giving and the grants that we can get and that we're applying for, we can keep this place running in a different way,' Khlifi said. 'The nonprofit structure has been completely vital for us to do what we want to do as a community-serving organization.' The importance of community is the most significant part of the Kan-Kan experience, and it's what I associate most with the theater. It manifests in two ways. The first is through location. If you've ever visited Kan-Kan, you'll notice that it's embedded within the Windsor Park neighborhood. Peek around the theater and you'll see houses just steps away. 'We, at the inception of this place, wanted it to be a neighborhood hangout,' Khlifi said. 'This was never going to be in a strip mall ... We have people in the neighborhood that are walking and biking over here all the time. We offer free neighborhood memberships, as well.' The second way is through people. Kan-Kan is a film staple in Indianapolis, and that wouldn't be possible without the programs and events the theater hosts. Kan-Kan is home to a handful of film clubs, allowing Hoosier filmgoers to connect with one another. One example is the Book to Film Club, where attendees watch a book-to-film adaptation and discuss both the movie and the book afterwards. Local bookstores in Indiana are already great at creating spaces for Hoosiers to connect. Together, Kan-Kan and independent bookstores are helping to create new ways to navigate art, film and literature. More from Sadia Khatri: Abortion ban, fetal anomaly and a ticking clock: 'an impossible decision' Watching a movie with your community is an experience that makes filmgoing feel special. Being able to attend a screening at Kan-Kan for an event sometimes means participating in a discussion after the film or documentary, making it all more memorable. I have fond memories at Kan-Kan from when I was a Butler University student, visiting the theater for a class, an event hosted by a campus organization or just with friends. Kan-Kan's success lies in its ability to connect. Cinephiles feel seen and heard by theaters like Kan-Kan; the theater is making it easier for Hoosiers to fall in love with movies. Watching a movie in the comfort of your living room or bedroom is comfortable and fun in its own right, but a movie theater is magical. Kan-Kan keeps that magic alive.
Indianapolis Star
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
King Dough to open by-the-slice eatery in closed Kan-Kan Restaurant space
The Kan-Kan Restaurant is no more, but a big name in Indianapolis pizza will soon take its place. Two days after the Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant announced its Japanese-inspired kitchen would close, co-founder and co-owner Ed Battista told IndyStar on June 18 that Central Indiana pizza mini-chain King Dough would take over the restaurant space with a quick-service counter operation. Battista said the pivot from sit-down fare to by-the-slice pizza is intended to offer a more approachable, affordable dining option for moviegoers and create a more sustainable business model for the Windsor Park neighborhood's hybrid arthouse theater-restaurant. "We just can't get the volume of people that we need to choose to dine with us," Battista said of the recently closed eatery. "We need to serve the filmgoing community in a way that is the most inclusive to everybody.' During the renovations, which Battista said should last three to four weeks, the Kan-Kan concession area will remain open, though the restaurant's bar will close (the Kan-Kan Restaurant's social media posts announcing the kitchen overhaul originally said the bar would remain open). Once the renovations are complete, King Dough will serve pizza slices and salads made in house from a walk-up counter. All three existing King Dough locations, including the nearby full-service restaurant at 452 N. Highland Ave. in the Holy Cross neighborhood, will remain open. Battista said Kan-Kan Restaurant staffers will receive two weeks' pay in addition to their final paycheck. He hopes to relocate some kitchen and wait staff to Bluebeard and Amelia's, which he co-owns with his father, Tom. Some staffers have been put in contact with King Dough management, though it is unknown how many, if any, will work in the reimagined restaurant space. Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant opened in August 2021 after a more than year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Multi-time James Beard Award nominee and then-Bluebeard executive chef Abbi Merriss filled the same role in Kan-Kan's kitchen, which operates independently from the cinema with which it shares its home at 1258 Windsor Street. In late 2022 Merriss stepped down to focus on Bluebeard, with chef Michael Conley (previously a cook at the since-closed Rook in Fletcher Place and chef de partie at Kan-Kan) taking her place. Last year, the Kan-Kan Restaurant promoted longtime chef Travis Hitch to lead the kitchen, replacing Conley. While the ever-changing high-end restaurant found a place in the hearts of many Indy diners and film buffs, the Kan-Kan Restaurant ultimately didn't prove a reliable source of revenue. "It is definitely heartbreaking because we had a vision for what this could be for our city, and it didn't hit the way we wanted it to," Battista said of the now-closed restaurant. 'I'm still proud of it. I think we did something very special."
Axios
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
What's next for GANGGANG
GANGGANG's impact is poised to expand in 2025. Why it matters: The creative advocacy agency has grown into an undeniable force in Indianapolis. GANGGANG says it has generated nearly $8 million for the local creative economy since 2020 through equitable art fairs, real estate initiatives, youth outreach programs, Black rock festivals and more. The big picture: GANGGANG has become the city's go-to collaborator to promote and protect Hoosier creators of color while welcoming tens of thousands of tourists during major moments like the NBA All-Star Weekend. Driving the news: GANGGANG co-founders, spouses and business partners Mali and Alan Bacon, outlined their plans for the organization's next chapter at a recent State of the Culture event at Kan-Kan Cinema & Restaurant. Zoom in: They're working with Westfield on a project to share the city's racial history, installing public artwork on a parking garage in Plainfield and curating Echo Hollow Nature Park in Hendricks County. They're also working with the Professional Volleyball Federation to provide creative direction for PVF's first all star-match at Fishers Event Center on Feb. 22. And the I Made Rock 'N' Roll Festival will return in May 2026 after a 14-month effort to make it more than an annual event. Flashback: Mali Bacon said GANGGANG was built in 2020 amid calls for equity and social justice with a sense of urgency to answer a critical question: "How do we create something that will stick beyond this moment?" Knowing that policy reform and funding initiatives in support of equity would ebb and flow based on who holds social and political power, GANGGANG wanted to be something stable that would persist until cities are "equitable by nature." What they're saying:"So here we are, persisting through what has been an incredible rollercoaster that has made careers (and) shifted narratives about a city and a people," she said. "You know artists that you didn't know before, and you know how to support them more than you did before. You know the value of the culture and who manifests the arts more than you did before." "GANGGANG's plan worked." By the numbers: Their events have attracted more than 50,000 attendees. BUTTER has sold more than $903,000 in artwork, with BUTTER 2025 expected to cross $1 million. State of play: Alan Bacon said while there is plenty to celebrate, the dismantling of DEI infrastructure across the U.S. renews their focus. "DEI opened the door," he said. "Culture is enabling us to walk through the door and understand who we are, so much so that our cultural remembrance and search for identity is under a grievous attack." The bottom line: Expect to see a more intentional GANGGANG in 2025. "We do not do cool things for the sake of coolness," Mali Bacon said. "We are here to remind places and people of who they are. That's the savior of cities." Go deeper: Read GANGGANG's inaugural annual report.
