Final curtain comes down

THE EDINBURGH International Film Festival (EIFF) collapsed last month as its parent charity Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) went into administration. CMI also ran Filmhouse Cinema and Café Bar. Trading ceased immediately leading to 102 redundancies here and in Aberdeen.

The board of the CMI issued this statement: “We have been proud to have led the CMI through incredibly challenging times, and in particular during the worst days of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the combination of sharply increasing energy and other costs, together with both the lasting impacts of the pandemic and the rapidly emerging cost of living crisis affecting cinema attendances, means that we have had no other option but to appoint administrators at this time.

“We would like to put on record our immense gratitude to the entire staff team whose passion for film as an artform, and for the audiences and communities we work with and serve has remained undented by the challenges of recent years. We’re fully aware that this will be an exceptionally stressful time for them.”

Screen Scotland said that CMI had warned Creative Scotland at three meetings in September that they were in financial distress.

DanceBase in Grassmarket have also said that “things are certainly very tough” and they would appreciate any support in the form of bookings or funding.