While studying for his A-levels, Joe Cornick undertook a project close to his heart. He wanted to recreate a retro cinema utilising the local village hall where he grew up.
Though the 1930s Coronation Hall in Slindon, West Sussex, had a full projection box, no projectors had ever been put in. So in 2019, nearly 100 years later, Cornick installed a full 35mm projection facility – thanks to a generous donation of equipment from a cinema in Tonbridge, Kent, had gone fully digital.
Today, Slindon cinema is one of the last cinemas in the world to run only analogue film. Following Covid-induced closures, the cinema has opened again for an audience drawn to the classic vintage feel.
“I had a big interest in film, and there weren’t any cinemas in the area running 35mm film,” said Cornick, who is now 20 and working in the film industry. “It was really quite surprising that there was such a great response from the local community. I think people had become so tired of the multiplex way of doing things – that kind of shuffle in, shuffle out clinical experience of many modern cinemas.”
Though many audience members are older in age, keen to reminisce about the cinemas of their youth – especially that special act of taking a crush out for a romantic night at the pictures – there are also a significant number of young people who want to experience something different.
“A lot of my friends and people who know me from the area come to the cinema. We also have students from local universities who come to see the projection box, which is a very rare thing to be able to do. People see the reels and everything and it blows their mind.”
Cornick said younger audiences especially enjoy how viewing a film projected on real celluloid is “an experience that digital could never compare to”.
“The rich colours, tones and ‘organic’ feel is something audiences today are still struck by when they see a print projected. For many cinematographers and directors like Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino their passion for keeping physical film running both through their cameras and the projectors is testament to its incomparable quality.”
Cornick, who works with two projectionists with nearly 50 years of experience between them, said he and colleagues have tried their best to make the cinema a retro experience in every way.
This includes using a haze machine that injects atmosphere into the hall, beaming a light from the projection box, and playing old Pearl & Dean trailers before movies. There is even someone in a dicky bow suit at the front of house to welcome the audience.
“We have the old trays that go around the neck, carrying ice-cream and snacks. There’s an interval halfway, which everyone loves because it gives them a chance to talk about the film. We have such a diverse audience that there’s people talking about the first time they saw a film decades ago, alongside people who are watching it for the first time.
“People come to us for a break from sitting in their homes, on their sofa watching TV or Netflix. They come to experience cinema how it should be.”
Films the cinema has screened include The Godfather and Battle of Britain, but Cornick is limited by which 35mm prints he can source.
Often, he borrows from private collectors and studios. This weekend, the cinema will be screening Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life, which he hopes will bring joy to the local community at a difficult time.
“It’s got so much poignance, it isn’t your average Christmas film,” Cornick said. “It’s about family and realising what we have, not what we don’t have.”
