SCREEN SAVER
Schoolchildren write to actress who brings Yousaf on board
THE UK’s only full-time mobile cinema serving remote Scottish islands has been saved after a plea from Dame Judi Dench.
Her intervention followed an appeal from children on Barra in the Outer Hebrides, which has a population of about 1200.
Pupils at Castlebay School wrote to the 89-year-old actress and convinced her to help save the Screen Machine.
She then wrote to First Minister Humza Yousaf asking that his government stump up 50 per cent of the £1.4million for a replacement.
She said: “The Cinema Bus is a lifeline in such a rural community and much enjoyed by children and adults, although so far only the children have written to me for help.
“The pupils are aged between eight and 10 and are desperate for the Scottish Government to help them. They have put a lot of effort into their letters and are most sincere in their pleas.”
The First Minister responded: “I want to assure you the Scottish
Government is absolutely clear on the cultural, educational and social benefits that the Screen Machine’s unique service brings to so many rural and island communities across Scotland.”
Now, the future of mobile cinema screenings across the Highlands and Islands has been secured until at least 2026. Around £350,000 has been found to keep the 25-year-old Screen Machine service going for another two years.
The Government’s film and TV agency Screen Scotland is to fund the extension of a lease of a mobile cinema from France, the third deployed for the Screen Machine service.
Its operators are still pursuing a fundraising campaign to secure a permanent new Screen Machine, with the aim of bringing it into use “no later than” April 2026, when the new lease is due to run out.
A temporary “Cin mobile” was brought to Scotland last year with an initial £176,641 grant from Screen Scotland after the vehicle used for the past 17 years began developing a series of faults blamed on corrosion caused by the weather. With growing numbers of screenings cancelled, the service was in peril until Regional Screen Scotland, which runs the 78-capacity screenings, hired a temporary replacement from French firm Toutenkamion.
The new funding deal will ensure the Screen Machine services continues to operate until at least 2026 while efforts are ongoing to raise around £1.4million for a new vehicle.
But the temporary Cin mobile has a different design to the last Screen Machine and can’t visit the islands of Eigg, Raasay, Jura, Gigha, Cumbrae, Rousay and Shapinsay. It is hoped the Government will agree within the next few months to meet around half the cost of a permanent new Screen Machine, which is expected to take up to 18 months to be built.
However, local authorities are also being urged to contribute to the costs.
Simon Drysdale, Regional Screen Scotland’s interim chief executive, said: “We are immensely grateful to Screen Scotland for demonstrating their continued support for Regional Screen Scotland and the much-loved Screen Machine.”
Sambrooke Scott, head of audience development at Screen Scotland, said: “This interim solution ensures continuity while it strives to secure a permanent replacement for the beloved Screen Machine.”
Michelle Maclean, depute head at Castlebay Community School, said: “We must especially thank Dame Judi Dench for writing and working with us and helping with our cause in fighting to retain the Screen Machine.”
Dame Judi previously helped the Phoenix Cinema in Oban avoid closure. She is a patron of the tiny cinema.
After going around the world the equivalent of 10 times, the old machine screened its final film last March. The old machine got a £120,000 refit in 2017 to add a minimum of six more years to its operational life.
Cinema Bus is a lifeline in such a rural community
DAME JUDI DENCH ON BARRA’S MOBILE CINEMA