How safe are Scotland's independent cinemas after the Filmhouse closures?

Amid a huge spike in inflation, it is no wonder the charity that ran the venues cited a “perfect storm of sharply rising costs” as to why the two acclaimed independent cinemas were brought into administration.

In the wake of the announcement, Scottish society sat up and took notice of how the cost-of-living crisis had taken its toll on the nation’s arts and culture institutions.

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Nicola Sturgeon addressed the issue in Holyrood, describing the venues as “really important cultural organisations” and adding that “all of us want to see them if at all possible go from strength to strength.”

At the grassroots level, a petition to save the cinemas has reached over 19,000 signatures.

"It's going to be tough"

CEOs in the industry have acknowledged that times are getting considerably tougher but remain committed to the principles that underpin their businesses.

Speaking with The National Allison Gardner, the CEO of the Glasgow Film Theatre, said: “It’s going to be tough but I just hope that we can come through because losing culture is not an option – it really isn’t.

"We do need it. We know that during lockdown screen culture really boomed when we really relied on it inside our houses. We had our festival fully online at that point and people really valued that option to watch these great films from their homes.

“People need culture so we don’t want any to disappear. It really needs to be looked at in terms of its offering on health and wellbeing.”

Gardner stressed the value of unique cultural experiences for marginalised communities for whom the cinema can be a “lifeline”.

She added: “For example, in our dementia-friendly programme, people come and it gets them out of themselves and gives their carers a break to talk about the cinema and the film. It’s really heartening to see that this is a lifeline for people.

“I genuinely feel that cinema really contributes to that health and wellbeing”.

Emphasising the value of the loyal customer base the GFT enjoys, Gardner is content that the business is financially stable: “We've made a lot of considerable progress to achieving pre-pandemic levels of customers. Our audience is super loyal and has been really, really supportive. So that's been great.

“There are pressures, there's no doubt about it. Costs are going up so we have some empathy. We're not putting our ticket prices up at the moment because we realise that people are under pressure.”

"A challenging time"

Offering his view on the landscape for Scottish cinema, the chief executive of Shetland Arts, Graeme Howell, told The National that the industry is “entering a very challenging time”.

In overcoming the obstacles, Howell said the most important asset the industry has is its audience: “I think the most important thing, if we want these institutions to continue, is that we need to get out and use them. Buy tickets, go to an exhibition, buy a coffee - do whatever you can to help these institutions continue to thrive and survive ...

"I think we've got to treasure our culture and that is more than about shouting at politicians - we need to go out there and actively treasure it".

The Mareel cinema on Shetland (Image: unknown)

Gardner similarly has movie-goers at the heart of her strategy going forward: “We are always thinking about the audience. I don't think it's going to be an easy winter for anybody but I do believe in the power of culture and the power of cinema to change your life in a positive way.

“That gets me out there talking to people, talking to audiences. I think it's going to be tough and there's no way to ameliorate that but we have to believe in what we're doing.”