Broomhall Community Cinema, Sheffield
Date: November 2023
Since December 2016 we have been supporting the Broomhall Community Centre to help them develop their own community cinema.
Their first two screenings had a combined total audience of 206 people. This work was made possible by a legacy donation by the late Dr Shaw and a Pay It Forward donation from the Cinema For All Yorkshire Group.
Cinema For All's support has enabled Broomhall Community Cinema to bring passionate part time assistant, Jack De Aguilar’s ideas to life. He said
“With Cinema For All’s help we’ve managed to create a safe space for the community to engage with cinema, while hopefully sparking some meaningful conversations about local issues, too. Cinema For All have supported us throughout, making sure our screenings remain accessible to as many people as possible, which was our aim from the beginning. We’ve also managed to reinvigorate a struggling community centre in the process, which has given tremendous satisfaction to local residents in Broomhall.”
Nicole Kelly, who co-founded the project with Jack said
“Having Cinema For All’s help and experience to call upon has meant that we’ve been able to spend more time on the exciting aspects of running a community cinema – reasons why we started this project in the first place – such as creating a diverse programme of films, and creating an environment where the whole community feels welcome and can share their love of film.”
So far, Broomhall Community Cinema have screened independent, foreign language films, such as Wadjda, Benda Bilili and Moonlight. They have also screened a short film made by a local Somali community group. Their screenings have been incredibly popular, with many of them selling out – proving the need for a community cinema in the area.
Broomhall Community Cinema are currently on hiatus. They have been successful in receiving funding for new screening equipment and await this being installed in their venue. Once fitted, they plan to work closely with other local organisations that promote social action and equality, to collaborate with them in programming new and exciting screenings.
Keep checking back on this page to see what fantastic work Broomhall Community Cinema do next!