By Hannah Powling
Regent Street Cinema has opened its doors after 35 years.
This memorable London venue was the first place moving images were screened in Britain in the late 19th century. It was the first to project the silent, grainy snippets to those fortunate individuals about to witness cinematic history in the making. Now – 35 years after Regent Street Cinema closed it’s doors to the public – the venue has been restored to its original purpose after a three-year project.
The 119-year old cinema has been rebuilt in an art-deco style by architect Tim Ronalds to really preserve the true ambiance of the building, after it was closed to be used for lectures by its owner, the University of Westminster, in 1980.
Regent Street Cinema isn’t set to be your average movie theatre; it will offer exclusive premieres, archival screenings, documentaries, classic movies and more. Shira Macleod, the cinema’s director tells us..
“I’d like to be able to show a lot of silent films with music and I’d like to show a lot of archive material, I’d like to show some Lumière brothers films. I really want to support British films, I want this to be a place for British films to be released because I really feel that British films are not supported and I want to carry on doing double bills.”
She adds; “There are so many things people are interested in coming to the cinema to see…it may not just be the blockbuster released on a Friday night, so this is about bringing variety and a bit of spice.”
Check out What’s showing at the Regent Street Cinema now!
–