Belmont Filmhouse, Aberdeen

Belmont Filmhouse is an arts cinema on Belmont Street, Aberdeen, Scotland which shows a mixture of films that generally would not be shown in a chain cinema and mainstream films. It is the property of Aberdeen City Council and is run by the Centre for the Moving Image.

History

What is now Belmont Filmhouse was built in 1896 as a trades hall. The first film was shown on the premises in 1898 and featured footage of Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle, establishing a tradition of hosting visiting cinema shows. In 1910 it turned to permanent film as the Coliseum, and was refurbished and reopened as the New Kinema in 1921.

After another refurbishment in 1935 it was renamed the Belmont Cinema. It closed in 1953, and the building was converted into a warehouse. It reopened under lease to Picturehouse Cinemas as the Belmont Picturehouse in September 2000 after a major refurbishment by Aberdeen City Council with assistance from the National Lottery and Scottish Screen.

After some turmoil and uncertainty, the lease for exploitation on the Belmont to Picturehouse had been extended in April 2011 for a further ten years. However, with the purchase of Picturehouse Cinemas by Cineworld, the company were forced to sell the Belmont due to a ruling by the Competition Commission that it had created unfair competition in the city. In April 2014, Centre for the Moving Image took over the lease and renamed the premises Belmont Filmhouse as a sister cinema to the Edinburgh Filmhouse.

External links

• Official website