New independent film project aims to bring more diversity to Sunderland screens

A new cinema project from the team behind Sunderland Shorts Film Festival, Filmhouse Sunderland began on January 23 and will run until July.It’s a new weekly programme of films for the city, screening new independent films, documentaries, re-releases and foreign language movies in Sunderland city centre.

Supported by Film Hub North, part of the British Film Institute (BFI)’s Film Audiences Network, Filmhouse Sunderland will screen at the city’s Empire Cinema each Thursday evening. Tickets are priced at £5 and £4 concessions.

Devised and delivered by the team behind the city’s growing Sunderland Shorts Film Festival (co-ordinated by Sunderland City Council) with North East cinema consultant Jonny Tull, Filmhouse Sunderland will give audiences a chance to watch new movies on Sunderland’s cinema screens that they would normally have to travel far out of the city to see.

The first film was a brand new 4k re-release of Federico Fellini’s landmark 1960 classic La Dolce Vita, with future screenings of British independent films including Pink Wall and The Runaways, eco-documentary 2040 and Midnight Traveller, a close-up documentary following one family’s plight as refugees.

Sunderland Shorts Film Festival’s Chris J. Allan said: “Sunderland has a rich cultural offer and there are many amazing things happening for the people of our city to enjoy. With Filmhouse Sunderland we want to bring independent cinema into that equation and expand on the work we do at the Film Festival every year. We’ll be presenting feature films from diverse cultures both from within the UK and all around the world at an accessible price.”

Jonny Tull said: “It’s wonderful that Sunderland City Council have put their backing into this project and it’s important that it has the seal of approval from the British Film Institute too. Sunderland doesn’t have its own independent cinema, and with almost 300,000 people to serve and such a diverse amount of cultures represented within the city’s population, I think it’s really important for the people of the city to be able to watch more diverse stories on their cinema screens.”

The first season is now on sale at www.filmhousesunderland.co.uk .