Upcoming Events:
A Small Cinema in Chinatown – 29th Sep 2011
Previous Events:
A Small Cinema in Rotherham – April 2011
A Small Cinema in Kirkby – January 2011
A Small Cinema in Widnes – April 2010
A Small Cinema at the Primary Education Centre, Everton – December 2009
A Small Cinema on Bold St – September 2009
A Small Cinema: “From Rotunda with Love” – League of Welldoers, Kirkdale – August 2009
A Small Cinema: “Maker Makes” – View Two Gallery, Liverpool – May 2009
A Small Cinema: “Local Heroes” – View Two Gallery, Liverpool – October 2008
A Small Cinema - It's the little things that count 
I saw your very impressive “A Small Cinema” on Internet Archive recently and thought it was an excellent idea, very well put together. I would have liked more background information on the website though explaining the background process detailing the idea to where you are now. I also couldn’t find a contact us detail. Funding, equipment used through the process etc.
I can’t think of a better way to bring together a community.
Best wishes for continued success!
Hi Eddie, glad to hear you caught the film on internet archive and that you liked the idea. We are currently developing the research section of the website, but maybe we need to outline a bit more about the process so far.
A Small Cinema is an event born of wondering if it was possible to create ‘a small cinema’ in england anymore. I felt there was a place for a traditional cinema experience that was somehow missing from current ecology which is dominated by multiplexes. I also wanted a place to show short films for local film-makers, and a context in which they could be enjoyed by a wider audience. And I wanted something that could be replicated or transported anywhere; something that could relate to its immediate community.
What I realised was that my ideal cinema is a series of little experiences and rituals that lead us to the film – the popcorn, the ticket, the box office, the plush seats, red velvet, courteous ushers in bow ties, trailers before the films, etc. And so I designed a short film night which had all these experiences. I funded the first event myself; building a wooden frame for the screen, buying the velvet for the curtains; printing flyers, hiring plush chairs etc. It was a few hundred quid but I had the materials then, plus I could have done it cheaper I think.
I will develop a tech spec for making your own ‘traditional cinema’ at some point, but the basic technical equipment is a projector, screen (in my case back projection) and speakers, and a laptop playing films from iTunes or a dvd player. Everything else, the frame for the screen with curtains, can be made or adapted as needs be with whatever materials are to hand. Most important is a couple of people who want to help out on the night.
Since then I have done a few cinemas funded by the local council, which enabled me to put on the event in different communities and also to run workshops with communities, exploring what cinema means to them, collecting memories and developing a programme and an event based on their input. This is a much lengthier process due to the research involved as well as the logistics of setting up in a new space, but it proves that the cinema can happen anywhere, and that everyone can enjoy short films.
Hope that answers a couple of your questions. Feel free to get in touch at any point – manager@asmallcinema.co.uk
Hi can u tell me will we be able to view your show online as i never got chance to visit theatre. I am a trader on kirkby market and was interested on seeing the final film.
regards
jan x
Hi Janet,
Quite a few of the films we made and screened are online now. The short piece about the market is here:
We also made a short film about the project:
And there was a piece about a young local boxer
I hope that’s helpful – we showed an archive film called “Knowsley Today” but unfortunately that is not available online.
Thanks for getting in touch!
All the best
John
PS Almost forgot! Another film that we screened was “Elvis in Kirkby” which is very funny!
http://liverpoolstories.blogspot.com/2009/02/elvis-in-kirkby-re-post.html
This is a very silly thing to ask, as the small cinema is really more about non-city communities I realise – but do you have any plans to make an appearance in London?
I only ask because PASSENGERFILMS is a film soc themed around geography and the place of the audience. We’re launching on the 14th March with an event on ‘Mobile Cinema’ and talks by Ollie and Emma of the Vintage Mobile Cinema and Magnificent Revolution about their bike powered cinema. We’re also going to show some archive travelogues and screen ‘Kings of the Road’. I was hoping it would all end up with a Q&A and conversation about returning cinema to a strong social and communal role (and asking why there seem to be so many projects to do this at the moment).
It’s too much to hope you’d be about on the 14th but I’d love to travel over and see the small cinema next time you’re anywhere close to London? Looks like a great project.
Would you be up for linking to each other on our blogs?
Amy