Press Release
Cinema Rises From the Flood Waters
Contact:
Bill Laws 07742 825813;
Alison Chapman (images) 07969 393884
Date: 24th February 2008
When pianist Paul Shallcross lays down his live accompaniment to Buster Keaton's classic Sherlock Junior at Tenbury Wells' town cinema in April, audiences may hear a sigh of relief.
The event is part of Britain's biggest rural film festival, Borderlines, which plans to screen 75 films at twenty-five venues across the Marches between March 28 and April 13.
But following last year's floods it looked as if the Festival would be short of a cinema. Tenbury joiner and cinema enthusiast Ben Bydawell takes up the story. "A group of us stepped in last year to ensure continued film shows at The Regal. It's an Art Deco classic, one of only two with its Italianate murals still intact in the country and it's been in operation since 1937. After an enormous amount of effort we opened in June 2007 but on the day we were due to show our fourth film the cinema flooded: the auditorium disappeared under nearly five feet of water, most of the seats were ruined and, when the waters receded, it was obvious the piano would never play again."
Now, after nearly ten months restoration, the Regal is back in action. "We are delighted and relieved to have the cinema back in commission after all the damage," said Ben.
The Regal will make a little history of its own during Borderlines' seventeen days of film. As well as screening contemporary classics such as Lives of Others, Enchanted and Atonement, they will show Gone To Earth, filmed in Shropshire by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the late 1940s. At the time stars David Farrar and Jennifer Jones stayed at The Swan in Tenbury, locals became film extras and Pressburger and Powell viewed the rushes at The Regal itself.
Borderlines director is David Gillam. "We've lost a great number of small town cinemas in the past two decades. So its fantastic to have a beautiful old cinema like The Regal joining in Borderlines Film Festival which goes from strength to strength attracting more and more people to a wider variety of films each year. I feel proud that Borderlines can bring a beautiful British classic like Gone To Earth back to the cinema where it was very first seen. It feels like we're making a circle complete."
David Gillam: "Normally you'd be hard pressed to find many of these films outside the big cities so this year we're combining some of the best of world cinema with some of our friendliest local venues."
Towns and villages taking part in the Festival include include All Stretton, Church Stretton, Hay, Leintwardine, Ludlow and Leominster. Ludlow's Assembly Rooms and Hereford's Courtyard will screen 30 contemporary films between them, including Oscar winning films No Country for Old Men, The Counterfeiters and Juno.
Ends
Notes to editors.
- Ben Bydawell's contact details: benbydawell@hotmail.com 01584 811031
- Borderlines runs from March 28th and to April 12th 2008.
- Stills from: The Regal under water; the Regal restored; Gone to Earth;
- Borderlines Film Festival is funded by Screen WM through the Access Fund and the National Lottery through the UK Film Council, Herefordshire Council, the Elmley Foundation, South Shropshire District Council, the Nexus Grant Programme (supporting the Rural Regeneration Zone in the West Midlands through the West Midlands Rural Community Council), the Rural Regeneration Zone and Arts and Business.
- Screen WM is the regional agency that supports, promotes and develops a sustainable and thriving screen media sector in the West Midlands. Screen WM will:
- promote the West Midlands region by raising the profile of its diverse locations.
- promote the West Midlands by highlighting the abundance of talent within the region's screen media sector support businesses through skills development and financial assistance.
- develop talent, from new entrants to professional freelancers and employees, wthin the West Midlands through skills development.
- support the region's moving image heritage and develop access to it.
- develop and inspire audiences across a broad range of screen media.
- promote and develop the cultural diversity of the region through the moving image.
- Press queries? Call Alison Chapman on 07969 393884 / alisonc@borderlinesfilmfestival.co.uk, David Gillam on 01239 615066 or Bill Laws 07742 825813