Llandaff North residents will see the Tivoli Cinema open again in its original building – 55 years since it closed its doors for the last time. Now the site of James & Jenkins Garage, the old Tivoli became a car showroom in 1961, however this year, as part of the Llandaff North Festival, local residents will convert the showroom back to its original use and screen “The Night We Dropped a Clanger” – the last film shown at the Tivoli before it closed in 1959.
Organisers have been working with Mark James, of James & Jenkins, who has moved the cars out of the showroom to recreate the old cinema all so that people can enjoy the film in its original venue. “The building itself looks very different now, of course, but if you look carefully, you can still see one or two of the cinema’s features. When we took over the building the old projection room was upstairs with the screen at the far end of what is now our large showroom. I’m pleased we can be part of the festival in such a significant way.”
Festival organiser, Lewys Wootten said, “Whe n we learned that the garage was the original site of the cinema we researched online and saw that the last film shown there was a wartime comedy starring some great British talents – Brian Rix, Leslie Phillips, Hattie Jaques, Liz Fraser, and a young Andrew Sachs. It seemed the natural choice for our pop-up cinema. There will also be a children’s matinee show on the Sunday afternoon. We want to see families from Llandaff North, as well as film fans from further afield, come along to support our pop-up cinema“
The films will be shown on Saturday, 27th and Sunday, 28th June as part of the Llandaff North Festival 2015. All proceeds will go to the local festival and tickets will be available on the night or from Lew’s Coffee Shop on Station Road.
The Llandaff North pop-up cinema is supported by Cinema For All. Renown Pictures, the company that owns the rights to “The Night We Dropped a Clanger” were also delighted to help with a DVD copy of the film. They recently launched Talking Pictures TV, a satellite channel dedicated to showing classic British films.
Festival organisers hope their ‘premiere’ will lead to regular film screenings throughout the year for children and adults, as part of a Llandaff North Cinema Club.
For more information visit Llandaff North Festival or contact Norman Gettings at normanllandaffnorthfestival@gmail.com
Find out more about the old Tivoli Cinema here on the Cinema Treasures website.
Fantastic news for Film Hub Wales Member Cellb in Blaenau Ffestiniog, who have this week announced that they have been successful in a bid to Arts Council Wales and have been granted a Capital Lottery grant of £70,000. This is also joined by funding from the Magnox Socio Economic Scheme, allowing them to install a state of the art Digital Cinema set up worth £90,000 in it’s music venue in the old Magistrates Court Building.
Cellb have already been hosting pop up cinema events in their multifunctional creative arts venue, however we are looking forward to seeing what they have planned for the future now that they are capable of hosting more films on a bigger scale.
To follow their new venture and find out first about their new cinema programme visit the Cellb website.
