OOR WEE CINEMA TAKES THE BISCUIT!
Innovation is at the heart of many a definition of community cinema and rightly so. A horse box can be a cinema. A minivan. A town hall. There are many fine examples across the country of cinephiles doing it well.
Leith has the beautiful Thomas Morton Hall and in partnership with Cinetopia we have a full programme of Sunday Matinees (first Sunday of the month) as well as Cinema Nights coming your way.
Bend it like Beckham screening in the Thomas Morton Hall - September 2019
Not only is there freedom to be found in the location and set-up of these quirky cinemas but also in the format. Intervals for example (remember those?) can be brought back with a vengeance for willing audience members to enjoy. Our Cinema Night intervals allow you to relax, have a blether, share a bottle with an old friend, empty your bladder and other such delights.
During this unique time of transition at Leith Theatre bringing the community together is at the core of all our activity and planning. As Cinetopia founder Amanda Rogers said in a recent interview with Napier Journalism student Dana Hall, what more wonderful way to get people together than to watch films together.
And watch films together we do. Our most recent Sunday Matinee screening of The Wizard of Oz was a full house. There was a yellow brick road of cornbread, a grandmother dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West with her little Dorothy granddaughter and a contagious sense of celebration of the 80-year old classic in the room. Our Christmas Cinema Night screening of Elf found us eating spaghetti from the wonderful and local Cafe Domenico (in partnership with Casa Angelina) and Christmas cheer was spread through the loud singing of Will Ferrell, for all to hear.
It’s all about experience with community cinema - getting together and celebrating classic cinema that merits the big screen and brings the audience back to another time and place even. Cinetopia works in association with Screen Memories, a Scottish charity set up by Michael White, designed to help those with dementia through the process of reminiscence. "We find the most powerful memories are films they saw when they were children, teenagers, or young adults” says Michael in his interview with Dana.
Leith Theatre and Cinetopia’s next screening endeavour is in association with Leith Late - a Sunshine On Leith sing-a-long - though tickets have already sold out. You may wonder then why we mention it but it seems fair to say that you might want to book early to avoid disappointment for our Valentine’s special screening. When Harry Met Sally will be screened on Wednesday the 12th of February at 7.30pm (doors at 6.30pm) and yes, there will be an interval. And pie.