Edinburgh film festival and cinemas cease trading

The Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Edinburgh Filmhouse and the Belmont cinema in Aberdeen have all stopped trading with immediate effect.

The parent charity that runs them - Centre for the Moving Image - announced it had called in administrators after what it described as a "perfect storm".

It said it had seen sharply rising costs alongside reduced trade due to the effects of the Covid pandemic.

It announced 102 staff had lost their jobs as a result of the closures.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs she was "hugely concerned" by the news.

It puts in doubt the future of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which is the world's oldest continually running festival, and comes just weeks after it celebrated its 75th anniversary.

The CMI was founded in 2010 and has run Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen since 2014.

In March 2020, just before the Covid pandemic, the CMI unveiled plans for a new £50m cinema complex, opposite the Usher Hall, that would become the home for the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Bosses hailed the plans as a "21st Century temple for film".

But the charity has now called in administrators amid difficult post-pandemic conditions which had seen audience figures down by more than 50%.

It said escalating operating costs and overheads along with soaring energy charges and inflation had added to unsustainable cash flow problems and debt.

In a statement, it said it was aware of the stress it would cause for staff who have lost their jobs.

A spokesman for the board of the CMI said: "We would like to put on record our immense gratitude to the entire staff team whose passion for film and for the audiences and communities we work with and serve has remained undented by the challenges of recent years."

Responding to a question from Labour MSP Daniel Johnson at First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish government would engage with Edinburgh and Aberdeen city councils to see if there was any support that could be offered.

"The issue is of huge concern and I know many people in Edinburgh and Aberdeen will be profoundly upset about it," she said.

"These are really important cultural organisations and all of us want to see them go from strength to strength."

Administrators Tom MacLennan and Chad Griffin have been appointed to assess the charity's future and said the CMI had been "central to the development of Scotland's thriving film industry".

In statement, Mr MacLennan said: "Unfortunately, CMI and its three subsidiary businesses have been severely affected by a wide range of factors that have rendered all businesses unsustainable and administration was the only option.

"We are hopeful that businesses already operating in the film industry or entrepreneurs looking to enter the film industry will be encouraged to register their interest in the assets."