Western Australia · Attraction
Sun Pictures Outdoor Cinema
World's oldest open-air cinema
schedule 1 min read / Updated Jun 2026
Opened on 9 December 1916, Sun Pictures in Broome's Chinatown precinct holds the Guinness World Record as the world's oldest continuously operating outdoor cinema. Watching a film from a deckchair under a wide tropical sky, surrounded by corrugated iron walls and festoon lights, is as close as any traveller gets to cinema as it was a century ago.
The cinema traces its origins to a store opened by the Yamasaki family on Carnarvon Street in 1903. Pearler Ted Hunter purchased the building in 1913 and converted it into a picture garden, with the first screening held to a full house three years later. Sound arrived in 1933, and the venue survived the Second World War, cyclones and annual tidal flooding until a levy was built in 1974. It was listed on the State Register of Heritage Places in 1995.
Two sessions screen most evenings. The programme rotates current mainstream releases. Seating is on deckchairs and bench seats in the open air, so evening temperatures and the occasional low-flying aircraft are part of the experience. During the dry season daytime historic audio tours run on weekdays.
Tickets are available online or at the box office when doors open approximately 30 minutes before each session. The cinema operates evening screenings through the cooler months, with the historic tour programme running through the dry-season months.
Where to stay
Holiday parks near Sun Pictures Outdoor Cinema.
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Scenic views
Lookouts near Sun Pictures Outdoor Cinema.
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