Edinburgh Filmhouse: 1980s film about love for cinema to relaunch iconic Lothian Road venue

Cinema Paradiso will be the first film to be screened at the newly-reopened Filmhouse

It is a classic 1980s film about a young boy’s love for cinema and is known as an ode to the beauty of the cinemagoing experience.

Now Giuseppe Tornatore’s Italian-French drama Cinema Paradiso is to be the first film to be shown at the newly-reopened Edinburgh Filmhouse after two-and-a-half years of closure.

The arthouse cinema is due to open its doors on June 27, with an initial programme of films focusing on those which were “missed” in Edinburgh because of the closure of the Filmhouse.

Cinema goers who donated significant sums of money to the Filmhouse’s campaign will be invited to attend special screenings of as-yet unknown films on June 24 and 25 - ahead of the official public opening.

Cinema Paradiso will open the Filmhouse. | Filmhouse

The cinema, on Edinburgh’s Lothian Road, closed in October 2022 when its parent company, Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), went into administration.

Rod White, programming director of Filmhouse, said: “Looking into the films that simply didn’t make it on to Edinburgh cinema screens at all during Filmhouse’s closure only hammered home the need for it in this great city of culture.

“It’s been tough – whilst Filmhouse was closed – to watch some brilliant films come and go from cinemas without being able to offer a venue to watch them in. The good news is, Filmhouse has never been a better place to watch a film - and talk about it afterward - than it is today and we simply cannot wait to welcome everyone back, or, for the first time.”

The new Filmhouse will include a revamped bar and cafe area, as well as an additional fourth screen, which will give the cinema capacity to expand its programme. The fourth screen will not open initially, taking place in a second phase of work later this summer.

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On opening weekend, audiences will also be able to see Martyn Robertson’s acclaimed new film Make It To Munich. The inspiring documentary follows the journey of 18-year-old Ethan Walker, who just months after nearly losing his life in an accident, embarks on a 1,200km cycle ride to Munich for Scotland’s Euros opening game against Germany.

Edinburgh-based filmmaker Matt Palmer will present a free double-bill of his gutsy thriller Calibre starring Jack Lowden and Tony Curran, alongside his hit horror Fear Street: Prom Queen. The latter film debuted at No.1 on Netflix on its release earlier in the year and will have its first ever public cinema screening at Filmhouse.

Lotte Reiniger’s classic feature length paper cut animation The Adventures of Prince Achmed will screen in a special event soundtracked with live music by Edinburgh-based musical improvisers and innovators S!nk in a performance filled with swirling, spiralling strings, saxophones, accordion, percussion and voices.

Work shot on 70mm film to be shown at the cinema will include Brady Corbet’s award-winning The Brutalist and Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer alongside Robert Egger’s Nosferatuon, which is on 35mm.