Edinburgh Filmhouse team signs 25-year lease, Charlotte Wells and Jack Lowden named patrons | News

The revamped Edinburgh Filmhouse is set to open at the turn of the year, with After Sun Director Charlotte Wells and actor Jack Lowden will be the UK’s first cinema patrons.

A renewable 25-year lease has been signed with the owners of the 88 Lothian Road building, Caledonian Heritable, meaning the team of former Edinburgh Filmhouse staff who led the campaign to reopen the cinema as an independent arthouse cinema can proceed with refurbishment plans that will see the existing cinema building fully modernised.

In March, the Filmhouse received £1.4 million from the UK government’s Levelling Up Community Ownership Fund for a complete refurbishment of the cinema and café bar, including the creation of a new fourth screen. Over £300,000 was raised through an online Crowdfunder, with philanthropic donations completing the funding.

Wells, who was a member of Filmhouse’s children’s education initiative Scottish Kids Are Making Movies before making his film debut After Sunwhich premiered at Cannes, said: “I’m delighted that these doors will finally reopen, providing an essential space in Edinburgh for audiences to discover films they wouldn’t otherwise see – films that challenge their perceptions of people, places and the form itself. The Filmhouse has been an essential part of my own story and I’m delighted that it can continue to be for others too.”

The reopened Filmhouse will use the in-house café bar to help support the charity, Edinburgh (Filmhouse), which 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.

Hard 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 administrators 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 revert to being a bar or hotel. A high-profile campaign calling for the cinema to be protected followed, including voices from actress Tilda Swinton, screenwriter Paul Laverty, and filmmakers Mark Cousins ​​and Kevin Macdonald.

Property management group Caledonian Heritable has won the bid for the property at 88 Lothian Road. Former Edinburgh Filmhouse employees Rod White, David Boyd, James Rice and Ginnie Atkinson have teamed up and embarked on a campaign to raise enough funds to refurbish the interior of the building and enter into a long-term lease to reopen and operate the cinema.