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Film fans breathe life into 'forgotten' IMAX cinema

Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley
BBC News, Bristol
Arthur Cauty A full cinema with people watching a large screen but the projection doesn't fill up the whole screen.Arthur Cauty
The Bristol city centre IMAX cinema closed in 2007

The "underdog story" of a "forgotten" cinema, which is being revived by enthusiasts, will be told in a new film.

The Big Picture, by Bristol filmmaker Arthur Cauty, focuses on the city centre IMAX theatre which closed in 2007 due to running costs and reduced footfall.

The cinema has since been mainly used for corporate events, but a team of film fans have given it a new lease of life as a community-run cinema, with a dream to one day get it fully back up and running again.

Timon Singh said with Bristol being a UNESCO city of film it would be great to bring the "overwhelming" IMAX experience back to the public again.

Katie Simmons A black and white photo of someone handling a reel of film used in the cinemaKatie Simmons
The Bristol Megascreen film community has been using a 2K projector for films in the cinema instead of the larger IMAX format

Mr Singh added: "I love what Arthur's done with his film about the venue. It's like an underdog story."

The old IMAX projector, which is about the size of a car, still sits in the venue, but with the reels and equipment weighing almost half a tonne, he said you would "need a forklift" to use it.

Instead, Forbidden Worlds Film Festival, run by Mr Singh and Dave Taylor, owner of Bristol video shop 20th Century Flicks, have been using a 2K Christie projector for their events.

Arthur Cauty A very dark, black and white image of a cinema with empty seatsArthur Cauty
Film fans hope the cinema will one day be fully functional again

Mr Singh said he hoped public support for the cinema, that has been renamed Bristol Megascreen, will grow in the face of increasing closures.

"For most people in the country, watching films on an IMAX screen means going to London," he added.

Kelly-Anne Bond A side profile of Arthur's face in black and white, silhouetted by light. He is leaning over a camera wearing a baseball cap backwardsKelly-Anne Bond
Arthur Cauty's film, The Big Picture, will have its premiere at the Forbidden Worlds Film Festival

Mr Cauty said he was drawn to making a film about the venue after working in the industry in Bristol for 10 years and never hearing about the cinema until recently.

"A lot of people had just forgotten it was there," the filmmaker said.

"In the early 2000s, I think it was kind of doomed to fail - IMAX is quite a difficult format and its popularity dropped off.

"I don't really know what the future holds for it - people are currently using a HD projector in there - to run the IMAX projector could cost around £100,000 a year."

The Big Picture will have its premiere at the Forbidden Worlds Film Festival at Bristol Megascreen on 28 May.

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