Edinburgh Filmhouse supporters launch £2m bid to save cinema

Supporters of Edinburgh Filmhouse have launched a £2m crowdfunding bid to buy the building and save it as an independent cinema.

The listed building, on Lothian Road, closed last month after its parent company went into administration.

The Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) said 102 staff had lost their jobs.

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

CMI said the move was due to reduced audiences during the pandemic, soaring energy charges, inflation and debt.

The campaign is been run by a fundraising group through the Edinburgh Film Guild - a cinema club based at the Filmhouse.

It said the loss of the building as an independent cinema would be "catastrophic for the provision of cultural cinema" in Edinburgh.

The group hopes to purchase the building and refurbish its "long neglected" fixtures and fittings.

The building on Lothian Road is a category B listed cinema of more than 21,000 sq ft.

Built in 1830, it was originally used as a church before being converted into a cinema.

The closing date for the sale is 7 December.

It is being sold on behalf of administrators Tom MacLennan and Chad Griffin, who were appointed to assess the CMI's future.

In statement last month, 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."

As well as the cinema closure the future of Edinburgh International Film Festival is also in doubt.

The world's oldest continually running festival celebrated its 75th anniversary this year.