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A tailors’ cutting workshop at the cinema in 1899 |
£1m for cinema restoration scheme
Donation boosts bid to revamp Regent Street building that screened first X-rated movie
THE cinema that showed the first X-rated film in Britain is on track to reopen thanks to a £1million funding boost.
A restoration project at the Regent Street Cinema, built in 1848, received a donation from the MBI Al Jaber Foundation as part of ambitious plans to revive screenings at the historic building.
The cinema, which is currently being used as a lecture hall by the University of Westminster, has hosted many major scientific and cinematic events including the first “paid-for” public screening of moving images in 1896 and the first sexually explicit movie to be shown in Britain in 1951. It also played host to a number of high-profile performances including the infamous “Pepper’s ghost”, pioneered by the then director of the Royal Polytechnic Institution, John Pepper, which wowed Victorian audiences and regularly sold out shows twice daily.
The cinema also screened the Our Army and Our Navy films as part of the British war effort as well as a number of avant garde and foreign films under the guise of the “Cameo Poly”.
The restoration proposals require a further £4million and the cinema could double-up as a public lecture theatre. The marble entrance hall will be transformed into a venue for learning, cultural exchange and exhibitions.
University of Westminster archivist Elaine Penn said: “I certainly hope if the cinema is reopened it will continue to show pioneering and innovative films and exhibitions to a new audience.
“We have a lot of film students at the University of Westminster so that will certainly give them a chance to showcase their work.”
Vice-chancellor of the University of Westminster Professor Geoffrey Petts added: “The cinema will be a beacon for the film industry, and an incubator for emerging movie talent. The early films shown in the Regent Street Cinema were educational, connecting Londoners with the world in new ways.
“We want to reopen the doors to new audiences, and continue connecting cultures. Our partnership with the MBI foundation is a fantastic start.”
Anyone who wishes to find out more information or register their support for the Regent Street Cinema project should contact Lynda Knill at the University of Westminster on 020 7911 5861
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