White Walls

White Wall Pop Up Cinema

Scene : A man is sat at a desk in a crowded little room typing on a manual typewriter. This continues for several minutes. The camera slowly zooms in and moves behind him until it is looking over his shoulder. The typed page contains the following text;

Did you know Brighton had another cinema? There are the two multiplexes and the two Picturehouses but there is also White Walls? It’s a pop up cinema that that has been running locally since 2015 and is currently located at the Wagner Hall on Regency Road off West street. Nestling between Weatherspoons and the city centre car park.

They have their own mobile projection gear and specialise in classic and cult films. They take their manifesto from Wim Wender’s 1976 road movie Kings Of The Road (In The Course Of Time) which I saw in an epic (read verrrrry long) double bill at the Duke of Yorks once.

‘”Film is the art of seeing” my father said. That’s why I can’t show these films, which are … mere exploitation of all that can be exploited in human heads & eyes. I won’t be forced to show films where people stagger out stunned and rigid with stupidity, that kill any joy of life inside them and destroy any feeling for themselves and the world.’

Kings Of The Road (In The Course Of Time)

Anything too spectacular is a no no as it leaves the viewer in a state of shock when it has finished. Films where you don’t really have to think too much or understand what is going on.

Current lisitings include Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer, Ridley Scotts The Last Duel and Federico Fellinis La Strada.

Apparently they have popped up everywhere from clothing shops, bars and warehouses to lecture halls, churches and boats. They are also responsible for Wes Fest the annual Wes Anderson festival that usually shows at the Old Market. They cater for audiences from 40 to 400 and even do a home cinema type service.

Also worth a mention are the Brighton Film Party Society. This looks a bit like a local version of Secret Cinema. Working with White Walls they throw parties based on a film where everyone comes dressed as a character, wanders round a venue done up in that style and then they all watch the film. Past shows of Licourice Pizza, the Big Lebowski and Twin Peaks all look like fun.

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