Filmhouse/Belmont closure

[Notesfromtheunderground]

Anyone else sad about the news of the Filmhouse, the Belmont and the Film Festival closing?

I still feel really shocked that this has happened - I can't quite believe that these cities are going to be without arthouse cinemas. And the Film Festival has been around since 1947 - surely it can't be allowed to just disappear?

I know there's a petition around about their closure, though I'm not really sure what the call to action is, or who the petition is addressed to. But one thing this episode has shown me is how perilous some of our cultural institutions are currently and will certainly encourage me to get out there and use some of them more in whatever small ways I can.

It's so very sad.

I fear it's the first of many such closures as it's a toxic cocktail of extortionate running costs, being hit hard by covid and people not having the money to go out and spend to keep them running. A huge loss to the city.

Yes Invisimamma I fear the same. I saw a news report on Friday that the national galleries are under huge financial pressure and may be forced to operate part time hours.

So if anyone has a gallery or a community cinema or theatre local to them and some spare cash, please try to use them - I am certainly going to do this where possible.

So sad. The Filmhouse was one of the best things about Edinburgh.

Aw no way! Didn't realise the Filmhouse was closing. Walking through the city centre is very depressing these days.

Really sad times. There’s a petition on Change.org but not sure what it can do when a business just isn’t making money any more. So many of us just can’t justify spending money on going out just now.