I'm a director at indie cinema in Leigh - cinema hasn’t left the town, it’s still here and needs your support
In 2013, a group of volunteers in Leigh had an idea to bring non-mainstream films to the town.
Leigh Film Society was created to bring films you can’t get at a multiplex.
They wanted to bring films that you would ordinarily need to travel to somewhere like Liverpool or Manchester to see, including foreign films and art house productions.
The film society set up in a small café but outgrew this in just a year.
In 2014, the group re-established itself at the Turnpike Gallery, where it remains today, taking part in outreach work with elderly and disabled people.
It was in 2022 when Leigh Film Factory was born.
A hardened and determined group of volunteers had a dream to make the charity bigger and better to allow bigger films to be shown.
The answer to these dreams was decided – they would build their own cinema.
Elizabeth Costello has been development director at the film society since the beginning.
A trustee for the charity and long-term volunteer, she spoke about how the cinema has grown, a need to raise £58,000 and news that Leigh will be losing a cinema this week.
She said: “We took out a unit at Spinners Mill and we got cinema seats from the London Science Museum. They were going to the landfill and so we went down to London and rescued them. The cinema has been built with a green ethos, made from entirely recycled materials. Everything we do has to be done in the most environmentally friendly way possible.
“The foyer area, ticket booth and bar are made from recycled floorboards from Spinners Mill. We have received a lot of material that was going to be thrown away.
“You need to come and see the cinema to believe it. It’s got that wow factor. It’s been built on a zero budget by volunteers who love cinema. What we have done is the stuff of films – there should be a film made about Leigh Film Factory.”
The big news this week is the imminent closure of the Leigh Cineworld branch.
Elizabeth said: “It’s a sad thing to happen in Leigh, especially the jobs that will be lost. We are not celebrating the closure of Cineworld Leigh, it should still be there. It’s a shame that it is closing but we are not celebrating it.
"We hope that there is another option, that’s what we have to offer. We can offer lots more than a multiplex because we operate in a different way.
“We want people to see that cinema hasn’t left Leigh. It’s still here and it's at Leigh Film Factory. I want people to take a look at what we offer. We are unique and we are hoping that people who religiously went to a multiplex see us as an alternative.
“We believe that films should be affordable. We offer pay as you feel for our family matinees. If a family can’t afford to pay for a visit, we say they can pay what they can. Our ethos is under the banner of the charity – affordable cinema. That is inclusive to everyone.”
Leigh Film Factory misses out on some films due to the sheer cost of licensing. Elizabeth said a vital upgrade is needed for the cinema to keep it going.
She said: “We can’t get them. Legally we are not allowed to show a film in public without a public screening licence, which is very expensive. The basic licence we pay is £104. If we don’t sell enough tickets, we are running that screening at a loss. A lot of what we do is to make sure we can get an audience in just to pay for the licence. We operate not for profit – 100 per cent of what you spend at our cinema goes back into the project.
“The blockbusters are often distributed in what is called a digital format. You need a specific projector for these and we don’t have one. This is why we have launched a fund-raising campaign in order to buy one. Without a digital screening projector, we can’t screen films on the day they are released because they are only available in a certain format.
“The latest quote we have is for £58,000. We as a charity will never have this amount of money to spend, so we’ve had to launch the fund-raiser in order to buy a projector, so we can continue to offer the borough and beyond affordable cinema.
“The digital projector is beyond our reach and the fund-raiser hasn’t been started at the best time. Who has money? We are living through a cost-of-living crisis, it is a difficult time, but we had no choice. We hope that people will be able to donate what they can and one day we’ll have one of these projectors because without one, our long-term sustainability is uncertain.”
Elizabeth said that the Leigh Film Factory had something for everyone and it has a simple ethos for making sure as many people as possible enjoy its productions.
“Somebody once described us as a social movement and I think this is right,” she said. “We are for inclusive screen culture, we offer National Theatre live, ballet, opera, live events. There’s no one audience out there, we all like something different. We try to accommodate all these different tastes. We want something for everyone and I think we have this covered.
“We want people to be able to believe they can afford to go to the cinema. For a family going to a big multiplex to see a blockbuster film, it’s very expensive. What we want is to make sure people can come and enjoy the cinema experience together. We want people to feel like they belong. It was built by volunteers across the borough who believe in accessible film.”
If you wish to donate to Leigh Film Factory’s fund-raiser, visit its JustGiving page.