Fifty-year-old indie cinema reopens at new site

An independent cinema founded 50 years ago is reopening in a new home, four years after it shut during the Covid pandemic.

Stoke Film Theatre has moved to the Wade Centre in Hartshill from its previous base at Staffordshire University.

The venue opens to the public later with a screening of the film Lee, starring Kate Winslet.

"The Wade Centre is a fantastic venue, and we're confident that both our long-time supporters and new audiences will love it," said director Grace Jordan.

Mark Barnish, treasurer of the North Staffordshire Medical Institute; Grace Jordan, director of the Film Theatre and Andrew Micklin, treasurer have been celebrating the anniversary

The cinema, which is a registered charity and largely staffed by volunteers, has been showing independent and selected new releases since 1974.

It moved from the university to secure a longer tenancy and more than £7,500 has been contributed to a fundraising page set up to kit the new venue out.

Treasurer Andrew Nicklin, said the organisation had raised a total of £16,000 so far, but more was needed to upgrade existing equipment, which included a temporary screen.

"We've still got work to do," he said. "But, we thought we need to open, it's our 50th year this year. We've got to reopen the venue, if we don't people will just forget what the film theatre was."

He said the new cinema, which has about 150 seats, retained the intimate and "welcoming" atmosphere of the previous one.

"It's a nice place. If you're on your own, you feel comfortable coming," he added.

Stoke Film Theatre screenings at the Wade Centre will be held in a 150-seat auditorium

Stoke Film Theatre was founded by Ms Jordan's late husband, with money from the British Film Institute and the university, then called Staffordshire Polytechnic.

Its new venue is part of the North Staffordshire Medical Institute (NSMI), whose treasurer Mark Barnish said the move would enable it to continue contributing to the city's "vibrant cultural scene".