A year ago, our beloved Filmhouse was closed as its parent company, The Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), went into administration. It was also the home of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. At the time, The Student wrote about how much the Filmhouse means to Edinburgh and the cinephile community, and what impact its tragic closure could have.
The good news is that Filmhouse and everything it represents has a chance for a comeback, but it can’t do it alone – it requires your support!
Caledonian Heritable, as the current property owner, has granted ‘Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd’ a six-month lease agreement to facilitate fundraising efforts and reopening. Following this period, the cinema is set to secure a 21-year lease operating as an independent cinema.
The charitable organisation is aiming to raise an initial £1.25 million and anticipates welcoming audiences once again in 2024.
Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd was established in December 2022 by four former Filmhouse colleagues: James Rice, formerly the program manager and now a cinema strategist at Mustard Studio; Rod White, the former Head of Programming; David Boyd, the former Head of Technical; and Ginnie Atkinson, the former CEO of Filmhouse and Edinburgh International Film Festival until 2010.
Here are the ways you can help to bring Filmhouse back:
- Follow them on X/Twitter: https://x.com/FilmhouseEdin?s=20
- Donate to their crowdfunding: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/filmhouse-open-the-doors
- There are other ways of donating as well. Please visit their new website for more details: https://filmhouse.org.uk/the-ask
- Attend one of their fundraiser events. There will be one this week. Although it’s fully booked, you can either join the waiting list or follow them on X/Twitter for the latest updates: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/filmhouse-public-meeting-tickets-743788229617
And, of course, please let as many people as possible know about this!
“Filmhouse – venue for Bicycle Film Festival in Edinburgh” by chdot is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.