Saved cinema comes of age
5:27pm Thursday 7th December 2006 in In Focus
The Phoenix Cinema Trust is celebrating 21 years since it saved the country's oldest continuously used, purpose-built cinema. JANAKI MAHADEVAN reports
In 1985, the Phoenix Cinema in High Road, East Finchley, was under threat of closure. The building's owner, Charles Cooper, wanted to sell it to the highest bidders - a property development company which planned to build office blocks.
Residents, including actress Maureen Lipman, along with film experts, campaigned to save the 1910 cinema from destruction. After a strongly fought battle, campaigners secured a grant from the then Greater London Council (GLC) that matched the £325,000 sum bid by the property developer.
Michael Holden, who was instrumental in the formation of the Phoenix Cinema Trust, said: "The case we had to make was about the historic nature of the cinema and why it was therefore worth saving."
"We went through the history of the building from its 1910 beginnings, and this was very important in giving the GLC an excuse to fund the project. It was the very last cheque it wrote as an authority, and it arrived nerve-bitingly late on the very last day that they were able to operate."
With the money in place to take over the running of the cinema, the non-profit-making Phoenix Cinema Trust was incorporated as a private limited company in November 1985, with the final purchase of the building completed in December of the same year.
Fellow campaigner and past chairman of the trust John Davis said: "In 1982, I was elected councillor to East Finchley and found, to my horror, that there was a planning application before the council which involved the selling of this cinema and the setting up of an office block in its place.
"This struck me as an act of gross philistinism and I was determined to do all that I could to save the cinema. There were many good reasons. This is an important local amenity, not only for the people of the immediate area but for the people of north London. It is a cinema that specialises in art and quality film, in the way that many others do not, and it is an important part of our heritage.
"Also, at that time, there were offices to let all over Barnet and there was hardly a necessity to build another block.
"I am delighted to see the coming of age of the Phoenix Cinema Trust. To everyone who helped in any way to save the Phoenix and its bright gems of celluloid, I would say it is something of which you can feel justly, truly and rightly proud."
The establishment of the trust has meant that it is able to continue focussing on foreign and independent film, attracting patrons such as the director Mike Leigh and actors Michael Palin, Victoria Wood and Bill Patterson.
Gerry Turvey, the longest-serving trust director, said: "Historically, British cinemas have always been dominated by chains. They have a stranglehold on screens and a stranglehold on distribution.
"The gloriousness about us is that we have independence. We have sole control over our own programming. We are able to put on films which are not dictated by the major distributors and the major production companies. We are still here waving the flag for cinematic independence.
He added: "What is fascinating about us is that we are still here, and lots of those big chains closed down, and we have survived through the energy of enthusiastic support.
"The directors of the trust are volunteers, local people. All the young staff and the management are all in love with cinema."
The involvement of residents is integral to the survival of the cinema and is it consequently a central part of the community.
Councillor Alison Moore, who has been on the board since 1998, said: "I think the concept of having a cinema that runs in the way that this does is fantastic. As a trust it combines both being a high-quality art-house cinema but actually also has community and educational aspirations as part of its trust status.
"It's that special package of film and community that I see as being really important and that's why I try and put as much time as I can into the cinema."
However, keeping the cinema open has not been an easy task over the past 21 years.
Francis Coleman, the trust's first chairman, said: "It's marvellous, but sometimes I do wonder how it keeps going. Somebody once came into the cinema and held up the box office and the income that week was £35 so there was not much for them to steal.
"People should support it because if they don't come or join the Friends members' group, it is not necessarily going to stand forever."
During the trust's ownership, the cinema has undergone a series of changes to improve the Grade II-listed building it inherited. In 2001 a new foyer was built and, just this week, the cinema has acquired a new digital projector.
Paul Homer, the trust's chief executive, said: "It's wonderful to look back on what has been achieved in the past 21 years, but it's equally important to consider the future.
"As we plan towards the cinema's centenary in 2010, the Phoenix Cinema Trust is not short of ambition or ideas, and I know that we are not short of the enthusiasm and commitment that can make it happen."
Plans for future projects at the cinema include the addition of a cafe bar, the renovation of the cinema's facade and the building of a second screen.
For more information about the future plans of the cinema and to find out how to support this work, email management@phoenixcinema.co.uk jmahadevan@london.newsquest.co.uk
