One of Salford’s oldest and most architecturally stunning cinemas is coming back to life as the Salford Film Festival returns to the city to celebrate Salford’s cinematic glories past and present.
The New Harvest Christian Fellowship Church, on the corner of Chapel Street and Trinity Way was formerly the Salford, and then Rex Cinema. Now the building’s cinematic past will be celebrated as the Church hosts a series of special festival screenings from 25 – 27 November. This will be the first time the building will have been used as a cinema since the last film was shown there in 1958, nearly 50 years ago!
The building itself has an unusual history. It was originally built as a Scottish Presbyterian Church in 1846, complete with tall spire. The original features of the church can still be made out on the back wall, around the back of the building, down Saint Stephen Street. The present frontage was then added in 1912 and was opened as the Salford Cinema, one of the first in Salford and Manchester. The cinema then changed to Rex Cinema in 1938 and survived until 1958 before it became a bingo hall from 1967-1985. Now the wheel is come full circle, and the building is once again a House of God. But, with the gracious permission of the New Harvest Christian Fellowship, Salford Film Festival dims the lights, lowers the screen, and sets the projectors rolling once again.
Screenings are as follows:
Sun 25 Nov – 2:30pm Heritage talk on the History of Salford’s Cinemas by Tony Flynn, to be followed by a screening of Gandhi, first in our series of films starring celebrated Salford actor Sir Ben Kingsley.
Mon 26 Nov – 6:00pm Comedy Double Bill, Born Yesterday / The Green Man
Tues 27 Nov – 6:00pm Comedy Double Bill, A Night at The Opera / The Lavender Hill Mob
Steve Balshaw, festival programme manager said, “The old Salford Cinema is such a fantastic venue for the film festival, it is a great place to experience classic films, in such special surroundings. We are so grateful to New Harvest Christian Fellowship Church for allowing us to use the venue for the festival and so give people a chance to step back in to one of Salford’s architectural hidden gems.”
A downloadable version of this Press Release is available HERE.
To link to an All About Manchester feature on this event click
HERE.