Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Spring 2026

Date of Submission

2026-07-25

Advisor

Parmal Ahmed, Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences

Committee

Soha Macktoom

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Keywords

Karachi, single screen cinemas, New Cinema History, oral history, third place, cinemagoing experiences.

Abstract

This research examines how single screen cinema houses functioned as social and cultural spaces that shaped urban communities in Karachi between the 1950s and the 1990s. The study draws on the interdisciplinary frameworks of New Cinema History, Urban Semiotics, Third Place Theory and Memory Studies, and methodologically employs fifteen semi-structured interviews alongside site observations and archival research to explore the lived experiences of cinemagoers.

While existing scholarship on Pakistani cinema has largely focused on films and the history of Lollywood, this study shifts its attention to cinema houses as sites of collective lived experiences and everyday social life. It explores how cinemagoing operated as a social practice through family outings, friendships and casual interactions, while also examining how cinema houses situated themselves within the city’s urban fabric.

Pages

60

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