On Inter­na­tion­al Cin­e­ma Day, sup­port a movie the­atre you love

It should go with­out say­ing that we at LWLies love cin­e­ma. Not just the art­form itself but the phys­i­cal, bricks-and-mor­tar movie hous­es where so many of our for­ma­tive film­go­ing mem­o­ries were made, and which con­tin­ue to deep­en our affin­i­ty for the medium.

Back at the begin­ning of this year, it would have seemed unfath­omable that these sacred spaces would sud­den­ly be tak­en away from us. But due to the dev­as­tat­ing COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, many cin­e­mas in the UK and around the world are now under seri­ous threat, with many still unable to open their doors. But all is not lost yet.

On Sat­ur­day 12 Sep­tem­ber, the organ­is­ers of Inter­na­tion­al Cin­e­ma Day are encour­ag­ing film lovers every­where to come togeth­er and help save inde­pen­dent cin­e­mas on behalf of the count­less peo­ple who rely on them for work and artis­tic devel­op­ment. They have out­lined their mis­sion and list­ed the var­i­ous ways in which you can get involved, which includes screen­ings, events, table reads and a raf­fle for an orig­i­nal David Lynch litho print!

Ahead of launch, we spoke to Tim Stevens from London’s Rio cin­e­ma about how the ini­tia­tive came about:

“The dri­ving force of set­ting up ICD is to link togeth­er as many impor­tant and his­toric inde­pen­dent cin­e­mas and organ­i­sa­tions, around the world. We’re mak­ing a day when the cin­e­mas and those who love them can share in the com­mu­nal expe­ri­ence, the same one you feel when you watch a film in a room full of strangers. Many of the cin­e­mas involved, espe­cial­ly in the US, are still closed, and those in Europe are only just start­ing to open again after months of uncertainty.

“We are bring­ing togeth­er these glo­ri­ous pic­ture palaces into one space, in an attempt to raise mon­ey, sell tick­ets and shine a light on these small busi­ness, so once again we can all open our doors. Through the web­site and the kind and gen­er­ous sup­port of film­mak­ers such as Mark Jenkin (direc­tor of Bait), Wakali­wood Stu­dios, Edgar Wright, to name but a few, cin­e­ma lovers can find many ways in which to sup­port these venues.

“Each cin­e­ma has a page full of links to buy mem­ber­ships, mer­chan­dise and most impor­tant­ly or all, tick­ets! We’re noth­ing with out the peo­ple. Those cin­e­mas who are for­tu­nate enough to screen films will be cel­e­brat­ing on 12 Sep­tem­ber, so if one is close to you please sup­port, and see a film.”

To com­mem­o­rate ICD, visu­al artist and renowned film poster design­er Akiko Stehren­berg­er has kind­ly cre­at­ed a poster which we’re thrilled to be able to reveal exclu­sive­ly below. This will be avail­able to pur­chase via the ICD web­site as a poster and t‑shirt print, with all pro­ceeds going to cin­e­mas tak­ing part.

Inter­na­tion­al Cin­e­ma Day can be cel­e­brat­ed at home or at your local cin­e­ma. To show your sup­port, post your most mem­o­rable cin­e­mat­ic expe­ri­ence on social media using the tags #internationalcinemaday2020​@day_cinema​, and chal­lenge three friends to join in on the celebration.

Find out more at inter​na​tion​al​cin​e​ma​day​.com