Open the Doors: Filmhouse returns

There’s been a hole at the heart of Edinburgh’s film community since 6 October 2022. That was the day Filmhouse, the city’s beloved arthouse theatre, closed its doors owing to the financial collapse of its parent company, The Centre for the Moving Image. The end of Filmhouse’s film programme, which made space for the type of films that don’t get much traction at the more commercially-driven cinemas in the city, was devastating, but just as crushing was the loss of Filmhouse as a community space where film-lovers could gather and share ideas.

Movies love a comeback story, though. After a lot of money-raising, negotiating a lease with the building’s new owners, and much hard work behind the scenes, including a heroic effort by volunteers who helped gut the building, Filmhouse reopens at the end of June.

As we go to print, renovations are still very much underway, and this isn’t just a spit and polish job; it’s a full overhaul, from new wiring to an upgrade of the previously tightly-packed cinema seating – great news for anyone taller than Tom Cruise. There’s even going to be a new cinema: a tiny 24-seater that’s being installed in an unused space in the Tardis-like building.

It’s proven to be a massive undertaking. Andrew Simpson, who's joining Filmhouse as its new executive director, having previously been head of film at Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, lists off the tasks still to be done once the building work is complete: “So the cinema seats get installed. The scaffolding on the outside of the building comes down. All of the box office hardware goes in. We've got to stock the bar, prep the kitchen. We've got to do all these things once the building gets given back to us. So we're rounding off and coordinating those many jobs. It’s sort of like Tetris, everything has to fit together very precisely.”

Rod White, who was the Filmhouse’s previous head of programming and a member of the ‘Open the Door’ team who led the cinema’s rebirth, will be returning as programming director. He tells us to expect a cinema transformed. “Filmhouse was, shall we say, a crumbling beauty that had seen better days and had gone beyond shabby chic a long time previous,” he says. “What audiences will see now is a modern, attractive foyer and bar. The layout is pretty much the same, but it’ll be a total modernisation of all those public areas.”

The bar will “feel very independent and very us,” adds Simpson. “There’s a new menu, which looks pretty fantastic. And we're excited to be unveiling a great bar selection that's going to focus on Scottish and particularly Edinburgh beers, wines and produce.” 

Crucially, White says the bar and the cinema space will feel much more integrated than they had previously: “There was always felt to be a kind of disconnect, perhaps, between the cinemas and the bar at Filmhouse,” says White. “What we're really keen to do is make it feel like one beautifully conceived, unified entity.”

It will be interesting to observe if the upgrade will lead to a change in attendees at Filmhouse. Despite being a ten-minute walk from the Edinburgh Uni campus, the cinema never appeared to fully capture that demographic. Anecdotally, the Filmhouse audience certainly seemed to skew older whenever I attended. When I put this to White, he notes that it did sometimes look that way, but internal research showed demographics weren’t as skewed as it appeared, although he admits they did consciously cater to an older crowd. 

“The organisation tended to ask its dedicated members, who normally skew older, what they wanted to see, and then double down on that,” says White. He also suspects the Filmhouse's tired decor might have put a younger crowd off. “There was nothing cool about [the old Filmhouse’s aesthetic]. How much effect that had on who was using it is unknown, but now that old dustiness will be removed, and it’ll have a much more modern vibe. While we have no interest at all in making it a place its regular customers wouldn’t want to go to anymore, we also need to make it somewhere where younger people can walk in and say, ‘This place might be for me!’”

Simpson seems keen to make sure Filmhouse will “be geared towards a wider audience, and that includes younger people,” and he’ll be introducing several incentives to make that happen. “There's going to be a whole new membership scheme we’re going to launch,” he says. “There'll be a free membership for audiences under 25 that will make tickets incredibly cheap and affordable for younger audiences to encourage their attendance.” He’s also observed for himself a general shift in audience behaviour at his previous role at Tynecastle. “It does seem as though that Letterboxd, young cinephile generation that a lot of us have been talking about for years is starting to turn out for the sort of programming that that Filmhouse can present,” citing the growing appetite for repertory films and 35mm and 70mm screenings among fresh-faced cinema-goers. 

Filmhouse isn’t the only institution to have a phoenix-like return after going down in flames with the CMI. Edinburgh International Film Festival was also nearly lost before being rescued by Screen Scotland. But one thing EIFF has failed to do over its two editions since its resurrection is to create a central hub, like Filmhouse had been for EIFF in previous decades. With both organisations now back on their feet, can we expect to see them collaborating again this August? The answer seems to be… maybe.

“I'm going to give a very political answer for that,” says Simpson. “The festival obviously has an incredibly long and storied history with Filmhouse; that's something very important to us. The relationship with the festival is great. And while we can't say anything with finality at this point, we very much hope to be involved in August. Hopefully there'll be more to say on that soon.”

Filmhouse's opening programme, and the exact opening date, is still to be announced too, but White teases that there’ll “be a week of films that either didn't show in Edinburgh because Filmhouse wasn't there, or just didn't get their due by virtue of there not being a Filmhouse to look after them”. Simpson also hints at some special guests who’ve supported the Filmhouse over the last two years, but he’s most keen for the whole of the city, and the wider Scottish film community, to be able to share this wonderful cultural asset again.

“What’s been incredible throughout the last couple of years is the enormous amount of love and support that everyone has given to the venue and the possibility of it reopening,” says Simpson. “All of that has played an enormous part in being where we are now. We wouldn't be here without any of the people who very publicly supported us over that time; we're excited to bring the venue back to the people of Edinburgh very, very soon.”

---

Filmhouse reopens on 27 Jun. Read about the first week's programme here: theskinny.co.uk/film/news/filmhouse-announces-opening-programme