The revived Edinburgh Filmhouse is set to open at the turn of the year, with Aftersun director Charlotte Wells and actor Jack Lowden to be the UK cinema’s inaugural patrons.
A 25-year renewable lease has been signed with the 88 Lothian Road building owners Caledonian Heritable, which will mean the team of former Edinburgh Filmhouse staff who have led the campaign to re-open the cinema as an arthouse, independent venue can proceed with the refurbishment plans that will see the existing cinema building fully modernised.
In March the Filmhouse was awarded £1.4m from the UK government’s Levelling Up Community Ownership Fund towards a full refurbishment of the cinema and café bar including the creation of a new fourth screen. Over £300,000 has been raised through an online Crowdfunder, with philanthropic donations topping up the funding.
Wells, who was a member of Filmhouse’s early education initiative Scottish Kids Are Making Movies before going on to make her feature debut Aftersun, which premiered at Cannes, said: “I’m so pleased that these doors will finally reopen, providing an essential space in Edinburgh for audiences to discover films they might not otherwise see — films that challenge their perceptions of people, places, and the form itself. The Filmhouse was an essential part of my own story and I’m delighted it can continue to be that for others too.”
The re-opened Filmhouse will use the in-house café-bar to help support the charity, Edinburgh (Filmhouse), that is running the venue. The cinema, which used to be the hub of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), aims to once again support a wide range of local and national film festivals.
Tough times
The Edinburgh Filmhouse building was sold for £2.65m in April last year. The building was put up for sale after parent company, the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) – which also ran the Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen and the EIFF – went into administration in October 2022.
FRP Advisory was appointed as administrator to oversee the sale of the building, with many concerned that the building’s days as a cinema were over, and that the site would return as a bar or hotel. A high-profile campaign calling for the cinema to be protected followed, including the voices of actor Tilda Swinton, screenwriter Paul Laverty, and filmmakers Mark Cousins and Kevin Macdonald.
Property management group Caledonian Heritable won the bid for the property at 88 Lothian Road. Former Edinburgh Filmhouse staff Rod White, David Boyd, James Rice and Ginnie Atkinson grouped together and embarked on a campaign to raise sufficient funds to refurbish the interior of the building and thus be able to enter into a long-term lease to re-open and operate the cinema.
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