Sunderland's new community cinema Pop Flix to screen everything from kids' films to cult classics

Lights, camera, action for a new community cinema which is helping fill the gap left behind by the closure of the city centre's Empire cinema.

Pop Flix Community Cinema has been launched at Pop Recs in High Street West and is a not-for-profit cinema aimed at bringing the joy of film back to the city centre in a relaxed environment.

It's run by volunteers who've formed a community association to bring the venture to life.

Tony Scott, from the association, said: "When we lost the Empire Cinema it was such a big blow to the city. We got talking to the guys at Pop Recs about doing screenings here and we dipped our toe in the water with two screenings just before Christmas: Elf and It's a Wonderful Life.

"As well as the screenings, we had an acoustic set from local band YUMA and both screenings sold out. It was a magical and so we decided to do more this year."

There will be a couple of screenings each month, with the next screening taking place on Sunday, February 4 with sci-fi comedy WALL-E at 4pm and fellow robot classic The Terminator at 6.30pm.

A second February screening will take place on Valentine's Day, Wednesday February 14, with an alternative Valentine's offering of rom com High Fidelity at 7pm.

The price of screenings is £5 for adults and £2 for kids, with a maximum capacity of 70 people. Any profits are ploughed back into the venture to pay for film licences and improve the experience.

Tony is joined on the Pop Flix Community Cinema association by Justine Murton-Scott, Fred Hyde, Luke Garnham and Ian Black.

He said: "It's such a great atmosphere having the screenings at Pop Recs. Last time, for the kids' film, we had yoga mats out and gave out colouring sheets. Meanwhile, there's a bar for the adults. It has much more of a community feel than a regular cinema."

Moving forward, the team is looking to have more live performances ahead of screenings.

They will also be making some announcements for the March screenings, including a Mother's Day special, on their social channels, which you can find by searching 'Pop Flix Community Cinema'.

All tickets for screenings need to be pre-booked on Event Brite.

Sunderland's only city centre cinema ceased operating as Empire Cinema last year when the company fell into administration.

But the Council are in talks with potential operators who may take on the site and run it as a cinema again.