About

In his book, Cat’s Cradle, Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut builds a story around a “karass”—a group of people linked in a cosmically significant way. Vonnegut’s “kan-kan” is the metaphysical instrument that draws people to a karass on a fictional island in the Caribbean.

The Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant strives to be that special place where people come together—linked by their Indianapolis addresses, their search for joy and meaning and their love of good food and film.  

In the early 2000s the Kan-Kan was a dream, unknowingly shared by a few people in Indianapolis.   Friends Tom Battista, his son Ed, Sam Sutphin and his son Ben had, in the course of their travels, noticed how cities’ independent movie theaters often reflected and embodied local culture and community. Indianapolis, they decided, deserved a place like this. 

When a chance meeting brought them together with pop-up film exhibitors Daniel Jacobson and Dusty Frey, the team got serious and soon hatched a plan for a brand-new cultural institution—centered on film. Then came a lengthy search for a community that would share and embrace their vision. Again, chance intervened—bringing Tom and Sam together with Pastor Robert Smith of The Christian Unity Missionary Baptist Church in Windsor Park, a neighborhood on the city’s near eastside. Due to an aging congregation and sky-high utility costs, Pastor Smith had been seeking to sell his church for several years. A deal was soon struck and plans were drawn for a theatre inside the church. Regrettably, the soft soils of Windsor Park—on the banks of Pogue’s Run—could not support the renovation.

Perseverance and stick-to-it-iveness led to five years of planning and fund-raising and the formation of a new 501c3—Indianapolis Film Project, Inc. It took a village, literally. Louise Henderson,a veteran film festival manager, joined the team as IFP’s first executive director and the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association backed the founders for a year’s worth of Zoning Board hearings. Finally greenlighted for construction, the sparkling new arthouse rose from the former swamp.

As planned by the founders, an investor-owned restaurant, commandeered by award-winning chef Abbi Merris, became a tenant of the Kan-Kan and four new businesses opened in the renovated and rezoned houses next door—Amelia’s Bakery and Café, a craft and garden shop, Stomping Ground, a skate shop and a hair salon, Golden Hour. Coincidentally, the other 30+ boarded-up houses within 1200 feet of the theatre were gradually purchased and fixed up by young folks moving to the area.  

Sounds perfect, right? Not quite.

On March 13, 2020, the date of the Kan-Kan’s official grand opening, the country closed for COVID and the Kan-Kan shuttered itself to the general public. While the country withdrew, the Kan-Kan’s devoted start-up team staged workshops, private screenings and outdoor movies; and developed a menu of streaming opportunities for its newly formed membership base.

Eighteen months later, on August 15, 2021, the Kan-Kan finally officially opened— quietly but well-prepared. Onward and upward.