Today, Wednesday 13 September, Aberdeen City Council’s Finance and Resources Committee agreed to appoint Belmont Community Cinema Ltd. as the preferred operator for the Belmont Cinema in Aberdeen.
The Belmont Filmhouse closed on 6th October 2022 when the parent company The Centr for the Moving Image went into administration.
Following the cinema’s closure, the Save The Belmont Cinema campaign was born. Its mission was to secure the sustainable reopening of the Belmont for the cultural and educational benefit of Aberdeen and its citizens.
In order to achieve this, the steering group of the campaign set up Belmont Community Cinema Ltd. Over the last few months, the team have worked tirelessly to put together a business plan and vision for The Belmont and met with Council officers in July to present that vision.
Dallas King, a Director of Belmont Community Cinema and former manager of the Belmont Picturehouse/Filmhouse, said:
“We believe that we can deliver a truly independent, cultural cinema operated from Aberdeen, for the people of Aberdeen. By focusing on four key principles of film, education, community and customer experience, The Belmont can become THE destination for film in Aberdeen.”
An integral part of that is a strategic partnership with Station House Media Unit (shmu) who will lead, and deliver, an exciting education and filmmaking programme to help nurture and develop the next generation of filmmakers.
Murray Dawson, shmu’s Founder and CEO added:
“We’re delighted to be working in partnership with Belmont Community Cinema to help deliver what we believe will become an exemplar of what a sustainable 21st century cinemashould look like in Scotland. The passion of all those who have been involved in the campaign has been truly inspiring and we’re delighted to have been able to add our passion and experience for film-making and film education to the development of our shared vision.”
As preferred operator, Belmont Community Cinema Ltd. will now move forward with its plans for Aberdeen’s much loved cinema.
Jacob Campbell, Chairperson of Belmont Community Cinema Ltd and founder of the Save The Belmont Cinema, said:
“I’d like to put on record our thanks to Council Officers for their professionalism during this long process and to our wider Belmont community for their continued support throughout the campaign. Today is an exciting step towards bringing our cinema back to the benefit of everyone in Aberdeen. There is still lots of hard work ahead and we look forward to presenting our plans for the cinema at a public meeting in early October”.