Neighbourhood Cinema

TAPE Community Music and Film launched a new cinema project called ‘Neighbourhood Cinema’ for communities across North Wales in 2023, with support from Film Hub Wales. Specialising in creative inclusion, TAPE have ‘co-created’ the project in collaboration with their Media Club – a safe and supportive space which offers hands on experiences to a cohort of people from across the local community.

The project initially tested screenings and workshops in Llanwrst, in partnership with the Family Centre and had exploratory conversations with communities across North Wales. Two communities have live activities currently, with one in the planning phases:

  • Ynys Môn (Anglesey) – Working with the local authority and Mencap Môn, films have screened at Oriel Môn in Llangefni, where audiences can explore the gallery and museum before watching the film. The project will go on to tour the island and screen across a network of venues.
  • Llanfairfechan – The community are developing cinema screenings in the town’s original cinema, ‘The Luxor’. Having sought funding to install a new projector, the cinema will benefit from DCP, bringing new films to local audiences. They are having a grand opening in October, with ‘The Sound of Music’, which had been due to play at the time of the cinema’s closure in 1964. A programme of monthly films will follow.
  • Colwyn Bay – TAPE will co-create screenings at their base and amidst the wider community in partnership with the Media Club, aiming to engage socially isolated audiences.

Each screening will have a workshop, guest or masterclass, plus the chance to participate in the development of TAPE’s next feature film project, Below the Waves, which is funded by the Arts Council of Wales. Venues are also supported by TAPE to learn new skills, such as how to set up and run the cinema kit, along with the process of programming and marketing films in each space, whilst also making friends and growing their professional networks.

For more information on future screenings, please visit the individual venue’s membership pages below.

Neighbourhood Cinema Testimonials

Neighbourhood Watch is a hugely exciting project for several reasons. It builds on the film programming work the group has done and the wide range of screenings and events they’ve hosted. It also moves this work into communities across North Wales and connects people in new ways through the workshops running alongside.

Steve Swindon, Creative Director of TAPE

There’s so much innovation taking place across North Wales but we know that communities aren’t always able to access events, whether this is due to the cost of living crisis, poor transport links or lack of local services. Neighbourhood Watch is driven by the community itself, creating an appetite for film on their own doorsteps.

Hana Lewis, Strategic Manager of Film Hub Wales

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