TimeOut ranks two Prague cinemas among the world's 100 best

Prague is a city steeped in cinematic tradition, from the golden age of Czechoslovak New Wave auteurs like Miloš Forman to today's status as a location scout's dream with high-profile productions shooting as we speak.

The city also offers exceptional cinema culture for international audiences, including historic independent cinemas screening internationally acclaimed (usually English-subtitled films) at affordable prices.

It will come as no surprise, then, that two of the city's indie movie houses (kino) have just been named among the 100 greatest cinemas in the world right now by listicle-loving TimeOut: Kino Lucerna, ranking at 62nd, and Edison Filmhub holding down 75th.

Opened in 1909, Kino Lucerna began life as a theater space within the Art Nouveau Lucerna Passage. The project was spearheaded by engineer and entrepreneur Václav Havel, grandfather of the late playwright and Czech president, Václav Havel.

The name Lucerna means “lantern” in Czech, and lantern motifs are a unifying decorative element throughout the building. They remain visible at the entrance, inside the cinema, and in other corners of the passage.

Kino Lucerna holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating cinema in the Czech Republic and one of the oldest in Europe. It was also the first cinema in the country to be adapted for sound films.

Today, TimeOut describes its interior as a blend of grandeur and intimacy: the 453-seat Great Hall is “a lavish red-and-gold affair of stucco, ornamental gilding, and brass light fittings,” while the Small Hall features seats adorned with the names of famous filmmakers.

The grandeur of the early 1900s lives on in the café (and possibly the septegenarian-staffed box office). Today it screens everything from classic Czech films to Hollywood blockbusters for about half the price of the multiplex.

Opened in 2019, this small but chic arthouse venue is housed in the 1920s Edison Transformer Station, a landmark of Czech Functionalism.

Since its debut, Edisonfilmhub has become the thriving epicenter of the indie film scene, hosting regular festivals, screening series, and talks, including the popular Movie Barf Mondays after-film discussions held in English.

The cinema’s lively café is a social magnet, often packed with visitors enjoying local microbrews and coffee inside and out. In 2026, Edison expanded with a sister cinema in Bratislava, offering a similar lineup of festival films and curated screenings.

TimeOut describes Edison as an “intellectual cinema hub where the curator’s hand is always twitching at the drapes.” It goes on to praise the cinema's thoughtful programming, which, combined with the building’s Bauhaus-inspired furniture and austere Functionalist architecture, "makes it a destination for design enthusiasts as much as cinephiles."

The bargain matinée screenings and family-friendly Sundays, often featuring English-language films, alongside evening showings of the latest releases, have cemented its place among Prague’s international community as well.

While Kino Lucerna and Edison Filmhub are undoubtedly among the city's best, Prague has many other independent film spaces that are worth visiting. You can find them all listed here in the Expats.cz Guide to Cinemas & Screenings.