small cinema; arthouse cinema
Refers to a small, independent movie theater, often showing arthouse, foreign, or non-mainstream films. Wasei-eigo from 'mini theater'.
wasei-eigo (Japanese-coined English), from mini theater
I watched a French film at a small cinema over the weekend.
Variant with interpunct; less common but seen in some contexts.
Wasei-eigo from English 'mini theater'. The term was adopted into Japanese to describe small, independent cinemas, distinct from large commercial multiplexes.