LOCAL HERO

Each month, Empire puts a much-loved indie picture house in the spotlight

TOTNES CINEMA

Co-founder Jane Hughes on Devon’s very own secret cinema TOTNESCINEMA.CO.UK

What’s your history? Post-world War II, two brothers, Kelvin and Grenville White, used to go around all the little villages in Devon showing films in their mobile cinema. In 1951, they decided to make our current building their permanent home, and remained there until 1964. When my partner Will and I restored the cinema in 2014, we met Kelvin and Grenville: they approved of what we’d done to the place!

What’s special about your cinema? We’re situated on a tiny medieval plot that you get to by going down a sort of secret little passageway. We’re a hidden gem!

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We run free jazz-music drop-ins on a Sunday afternoon and these are followed by a classic jazz-themed film like Blue Note Records. We showed Woodstock a few years ago and many in the audience attended the original festival so were able to share memories afterwards.

How does the community play a role? Volunteers support us by helping us to run the bar, usher and fundraise. We also work together to bring our older community members into the cinema. It’s a chance for many, particularly those who live alone, to meet other people.

What’s been happening during lockdown? We’ve created a beautiful new entrance with stained-glass windows as a way of drawing people’s eyes towards our secret passageway from the high street. We’ve worked hard to design an exciting ‘cult movie’ programme too.

What plans are you making for the future? We’re on the look-out for a new 35mm projectionist so we can revive our special 35mm film showings. We’re hoping to bring back some Spaghetti Western classics from our attic!