Saving Edinburgh Filmhouse

A lease deal has been agreed which will hopefully restore the cinema to its former glory.

Unfortunately, Edinburgh Filmhouse on Lothian Road closed in October 2022 after its parent company had to go into administration.

100 people lost their jobs due to the cinemas' closure and the building was sold for £2.65 million in April. The current owners have agreed a lease deal with a charity which hopes to re-open the cinema.

Another independent cinema in Aberdeen which also shared the parent company could re-open after the council agreed to a bid to run the cinema as a community facility.

Edinburgh Filmhouse hosted the Edinburgh International Film Festival and was known for presenting the most diverse cinematic programmes in the UK.

Parent company 'The Centre for Moving Image' ceased trading last October, as it was the parent company for Edinburgh and Aberdeen Filmhouses the buildings had to be sold.

The buildings were sold by Caledonian Heritable, who also own other Edinburgh businesses, including the Theatre Royal, Ryan's Bar and the Dome.

A six-month lease has now been agreed with the Filmhouse charity to allow fundraising and possibly re-opening the cinema. If the funds are raised will begin a 20-year lease with plans for it to hopefully operate independently with the support of a café bar.

Caledonian Heritable have started to upgrade the building and will be gifting projection equipment to the new Filmhouse.

Belmont Community Centre will now have to begin raising funds but with an operator bidder status, hopes are that the cinema may re-open its doors next summer. 

The charity is hoping to raise £1.25 million in order to allow the cinema to re-open in 2024, Screen Scotland has donated £60,000 to the charity to support the re-opening of the film house.

A spokesperson for Caledonian Heritable has said: "We are pleased to be working with the Filmhouse, Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council in anticipation of a new era at this key cultural venue."