Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd, the organisation working to reopen Edinburgh’s iconic Filmhouse cinema, have achieved a significant milestone in their fundraising campaign, securing a major grant from Screen Scotland.
Today Screen Scotland confirmed it has awarded Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Limited £299,000 to support its continuing planning and development efforts as the charity works to renovate and reopen the cinema in 2024. Screen Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council and The Scottish Government have been working to secure a future for cultural cinema in the city across the months since the Centre for the Moving Image's collapse.
Filmhouse (Edinburgh)’s aim is to raise £1,250,000 by the end of February 2024, from a number of sources, and the organisation is working tirelessly to secure the support of potential backers. Screen Scotland’s grant takes the total raised to date to £500,000.
This award is made in parallel to the Filmhouse Crowdfunding campaign, which has soared to over £160K in recent weeks, with donations from over 1850 backers and supporters. High profile support from a host of film industry figures has helped the Crowdfunder reach 64% of it’s goal, with Gift Aid taking the total to over £200,000.
A Filmhouse (Edinburgh) spokesperson said: “We have been deeply moved by the huge groundswell of support shown by supporters from Edinburgh and around the world. The strength of feeling is clear; Edinburgh needs a world-class cinematheque. Screen Scotland’s support represents a significant commitment to and endorsement of our plans, and another huge step in realising the dream of reopening Filmhouse.”
As the Crowdfunder is an excellent way for people to donate whether it be £5 or £5000 the decision has been taken by Filmhouse Edinburgh to extend the deadline to the end of January 2024.
Isabel Davis, Executive Director at Screen Scotland said: “Filmhouse is the iconic centre of cinema culture in Edinburgh, providing a uniquely diverse cinema programme which celebrates film from around the world and from its rich history. Screen Scotland is supporting the return of this vital venue and organisation; one which provides a nurturing home for myriad film festivals, a hub for film education, a home to a community of film lovers and filmmakers and an important cultural resource for the cinema-going public. Screen Scotland is proud to assist with the hoped for revival of this cinematic haven. Its return would signify not just the reopening of a cinema, but the return of a vital home for the artform.
Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Limited, were granted charitable status in June and led by four former Filmhouse colleagues, is in advanced discussions with Caledonian Heritable regarding a long lease on the building at 88 Lothian Road, which they hope to be able to sign in March 2024.
Filmhouse, which operated successfully on Lothian Road from 1979, and is known for presenting the most ambitious and diverse cinema programme in the UK outside the BFI Southbank. It closed in October 2022 when its parent company, CMI, went into administration. A re-opened Filmhouse will operate independently as a cultural cinema and run the in-house café-bar to support the charity. It will aim to develop new audiences in the Edinburgh city region, support a wide range of local and national film festivals, and deliver cultural cinema in all its diversity.
Fundraising contributions can be made via the Filmhouse campaign crowdfunder.
Further information at www.filmhouse.org.uk
More information
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Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Limited was formed in late December 2022 by four former Filmhouse colleagues: James Rice, former programme manager and now a cinema strategist at specialist consultancy Mustard Studio; Rod White, former Head of Programming; David Boyd, former Head of Technical; and Ginnie Atkinson, former CEO of Filmhouse and Edinburgh International Film Festival until 2010.
Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd. is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland SC753872; and a registered charity in Scotland, SC052643, regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)