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Ten years on, cinema campaigners celebrate lasting triumph

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Happy anniversary: cinema-goers gather in the Arts Bar at the David Lean Cinema, which a group of dogged volunteers have managed since its re-opening in 2014. Pic: Peter G Ball

Last week saw a memorable conclusion to the 10th anniversary events at the David Lean Cinema, where the doughty troup of volunteers were celebrating the re-opening and re-establishment of the venue under their care and management in 2014, following its closure for almost three years due to council cuts.

The culmination of events was this country’s first cinema screening of Nostromo: David Lean’s Impossible Dream.

The screening was 10 years after the cinema had re-opened with Basically, Johnny Moped, “Although these occasions involved very different films, both were documentaries featuring extraordinary creative people born in Croydon”, the David Lean Cinema Campaign’s spokesperson said.

Following a welcome and opening remarks from current DLC chair Heather Hardie and campaign founder Adrian Winchester, Sally Reeves, a trustee of the David Lean Foundation, spoke, mentioning that David Lean was one of the creators of BAFTA and its first chair.

She also provided an outline of the Foundation’s work, which includes supporting emerging filmmakers via the National Film and TV School in Beaconsfield.

Also present last week was Mike Patrick, a project architect involved in the creation of the Croydon Clocktower arts complex in the early 1990s. In 1991, he suggested that the planned cinema should be called The David Lean Cinema, an inspired idea which has had lasting consequences.

“Seeing Nostromo was a poignant experience, as we learnt of David Lean’s brave efforts to get the film into production despite his declining health,” according to a DLC posting on social media. When Tilda Swinton visited the David Lean Cinema at the start of the year, she had spoken of her screen tests for Nostromo, and the documentary included brief glimpses of these.

A message sent from the David Lean Foundation said, “You have a very enthusiastic group of people down there in Croydon and we appreciate your keeping the name of David Lean alive in his home town.

“He would have been very touched, I am sure.”

Read more: Ronnie Corbett calls for campaign to save David Lean Cinema
Read more: Council forced to re-open David Lean Cinema after three years
Read more: David Lean Cinema re-opening is a people’s authentic triumph

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