Cinemas are a public treasure – a vital site for film magic and discovery and invaluable places of economic exchange, social communion, and personal escape and solace.
With the lockdown of so many cinemas in the UK, Europe and around the world, we face a crisis that is undermining the business of public film exhibition and threatens to shutter countless cinemas for good. That’s why we are launching an editorial campaign to celebrate, cherish and defend these spaces for the future.
#MyDreamPalace will be a communal celebration of the magic of moviegoing. Over the next winter months, and until cinema curtains roll up and the lights go down, we’ll be asking filmmakers from across the world to reflect on their favourite and formative cinemas in the time of Covid.
We’ll also be spotlighting the people who make cinemas work, from projectionists to ushers to programmers. And we’ll explore what kind of cinema ecosystem we want to emerge from this crisis.
We ask you our readers to join in: tell us about your favourite dream palace and what makes it so special. Join us on social media in posting pictures and videos of treasured cinemas, stories about memorable experiences you’ve had in the audience and observations about what makes film-going an irreplaceable rite. Tag your posts #MyDreamPalace and we’ll share as much as we can. And if you want to drop us any private pitches or suggestions, please email us at s&s@bfi.org.uk.
While we wait to again be – to paraphrase Susan Sontag – kidnapped by movies, sitting in the dark alongside anonymous strangers, overwhelmed by the physical presence of the image in front of us, here’s remembering what Tilda Swinton hymned as the “wild wide screen”.