Edinburgh local cinemas close their doors amid COVID-19
04 November 2020
By Karina Caulfield
The delay of blockbuster movies and new restrictions are among the top reasons.
Photos by Karina Caulfield
The Edinburgh Filmhouse has been the last of local Edinburgh cinemas to close, following new government COVID-19 updates.
Although their café bar will remain open, their last day of screenings was November 1st, showing a range of Halloween films for the autumn festivities.
They took to Instagram to say, ‘We are sad to see our cinemas closed following the recent updates from the Government. We hope it's not too long until we can open again - keep an eye on our channels for updates.’
The public can continue to support the cinema by booking a table at their café bar, which is serving food and soft drinks from 12pm till 6pm.
Photo by Karina Caulfield
Nearby, is the Cameo Picturehouse in Tollcross which shut nearly a month earlier, on October 9th. One of the main reasons was due to the delay of blockbuster movies with no reopening date set.
They wrote on their website to assure the public they will know of any future updates: ‘We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any updates once film studios are able to bring their major film releases back to the big screen. We will also continue to follow government and health authority guidelines to ensure that upon reopening, the health and safety of our staff and customers remains our priority.’
Photo by Karina Caulfield
However, one cinema has not been so lucky in being able to reopen during this pandemic. The Dominion Cinema, a family run business who have been screening films for over 80 years; has not reopened since 17th March 2020 in the height of COVID-19.
Interestingly, The Dominion has only been forced to close twice in its whole 83 years. It first shut its doors over fears of air raids during World War II in 1939, to then closing a second time due to the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
They have been busy planning towards an opening day revealing on their website: ‘Your wellbeing and that of our team is of the utmost importance to us and we are working hard to ensure you will be able to visit the Dominion as safely as possible, as soon as possible. The adjustments and renovations we are carrying out will allow you to return to enjoy the magic of cinema and celebrate the joys of escapism.’
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They have since set up a Crowdfunder in a bid to help open their doors again, asking for any kind of support, to help survive this pandemic.
Crowdfunder: Dominion Cinema / Katie Cameron
They took to their Crowdfunder page to highlight the issues preventing them from reopening: ‘We have met all our financial obligations but unfortunately have not as yet been eligible for any grants and we still have many overheads of essential service contracts…Every time we prepare to open our doors again we receive the disappointing news that yet another exciting title is being delayed.’
Alternatively, they are working on a schedule of classic films and screened performances of the Royal Opera House and Ballet.
As a result, the public can donate to the Dominion Crowdfunder by 4.19pm on November 27th to help the independent cinema reopen.