00:00 An Edinburgh cinema that's remained largely unknown for the last 90 years is welcoming
00:06 the public to their bespoke premises this weekend.
00:09 Situated in Edinburgh's Newtown, this unassuming building on Fetis Row has been home to the
00:14 Edinburgh Cine and Video Society since the late 1930s, with the club being the oldest
00:20 moviemaking society in Scotland.
00:23 This weekend, visitors will be able to watch films at the society's cinema, meet society
00:28 members and discover the resources the club has to offer.
00:32 And for families and younger guests, there will also be a range of events at nearby East
00:37 Circus Gardens, including face painting, a movie-themed costume parade and a bouncy castle.
00:43 Titled the Newtown Family Film Festival, the event will help fundraising efforts to restore
00:48 and enhance the space, and also hopes to attract a new generation of filmmakers and creatives
00:54 to the society.
00:55 Well, the society has been going for many years, since 1936, when it started off as
01:00 Edinburgh's Cine Society.
01:01 Back in those days, it was mainly professional people who could afford cine film and the
01:08 costs of developing it.
01:10 And they wanted a club where they could actually learn how to splice it together and project
01:13 it onto a screen to show off their holiday films to their friends.
01:18 And that's how the club actually formed.
01:19 It was mainly a social circle of professional people showing off their holiday films and
01:25 learning how to do the mechanics of it at the club night.
01:28 But over the years, the cine people have diminished quite dramatically.
01:35 We've got one or two left, they're in their 90s now.
01:38 The oldest member is 93.
01:39 And he's still keen on his cine projectors and his cine film.
01:44 But the other people have been brought up in video.
01:47 That was even declining because due to COVID, we were closed for two and a half years.
01:52 And dropping our numbers, it was quite traumatic.
01:55 So we ended up with about 14 members, older members that wasn't sustainable for the club.
02:00 So with a recruitment campaign back in a couple of open days, we've recruited another 28 new
02:06 members since then.
02:07 So the club's in a healthier position.
02:09 We're hoping to have, through this fundraising event, get money in to help soundproof the
02:14 floor of the film theatre here, to stop the transmission noise to the neighbours below,
02:19 and to improve the amenities of the club room as a whole, some decoration and painting and
02:24 a few other things like that.
02:27 Since the 1930s, the club's made about 600 films.
02:31 With COVID and everything, things have kind of slowed to a halt.
02:33 We now have three films in production.
02:38 So we're trying to get back into the swing of making films.
02:42 More films have been made now than have ever been made before because of TikTok and smartphones.
02:46 And what we'd like to do is try and tap into that generation and get people to go from
02:52 making two-second TikToks to short films and then longer films, and maybe even feature
02:57 films.
02:58 We're trying to get the story that there is a club here and we make films and we exist
03:01 out, which I don't think many people know.
03:05 Ahead of the club's new season that begins in October, the Society are keen to recruit
03:10 new members who have an interest in a range of disciplines, from scriptwriting, directing
03:14 and cinematography, to costume design, animation and sound engineers, just to name a few, and
03:20 for people who want to try their hand at green screen production.
03:24 Sunday's fundraiser will also host a workshop, teaching people how to incorporate the technique
03:29 into their videos.
03:30 We start with script aspects, how to write scripts, how to translate a script into action
03:34 and block in the films, what type of equipment to use, lighting equipment and sound equipment.
03:39 And then we put it all together and the club members then start making their own small
03:44 productions.
03:45 We've got five different scriptwriters.
03:46 In fact, one of our scriptwriters has left because he's got a job working in the screen
03:52 room for the Rebus new production.
03:54 See, he was going to do a series of scriptwriting for us and we've lost him because he's moving
03:59 up north.
04:02 The Newtown Family Film Festival takes place this Sunday, the 27th of August, between 12
04:07 and 4pm.
04:09 For information on how to book tickets and a full listing of events, you can visit TicketTaylor.com
04:14 using the link below.
04:16 And for more information on the Edinburgh Cine and Video Society and how to become a
04:20 member, you can visit their website at www.ecvs.co.uk.
04:27 This year is a real big, you know, memberships now up back to above 40 and films in production,
04:33 so that's good.
04:34 The initial thing is to get the rooms back into a bit better shape and then see where
04:40 we go from there.
04:41 I mean, I can't imagine we're going to stop fundraising any time soon.
04:47 This is the first attempt to bring some money in.
04:49 We're getting a lot of freelancers and people involved in film production, directors and
04:55 producers.
04:56 The Thursday meeting is a kind of meeting up of like minds.
04:59 It helps them and it helps us as well.
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