chichestercinema.org
RUBY MATTERS Who would have had the imagination, the vision - the audacity - 40 years ago to forsee how Roger Gibson, when setting out to bring film to Chichester, could have achieved so much for so many? Read on to find out how Roger accomplished this via many twists and turns from 1979, those who helped him - Jo Gibson, artist and wife, and many others - and why they did. The Ruby Magazine team – Sue Gilson, Jane Weeks, headed by Carol Godsmark – invite you to read diverse contributions from those including the respected and loved Guardian film critic Derek Malcolm (friend of the cinema for decades), in conversation with Joseph Gilson, a remarkable new breed of film reviewer; ‘Still Shaken but Stirred’, James Bond screenwriters Robert Wade and Neal Purvis on their craft; Richard Cupidi, creator of Dreamworks and one of the cinema’s many vibrant film tutors who asks the question: How do independent cinemas matter?
Some articles are introduced on these pages and continued online. All articles will also appear in the cinema’s weekly email newsletter throughout 2019. Hats off to contributors and to Walter Francisco, the team, and, of course, Roger. Carol Godsmark, Editor and PR & Marketing Manager
DANCE MUSIC DOC
THEATRE EXHIBITION FILM MUSICAL THEATRE
‘Eggheads’ (BBC2) quizzer Kevin Ashman to take your time during the Ruby Year. Read on too for what a python wrangler is; where ‘Stan & Ollie’ was filmed, and how director/writer Don Boyd’s wife bonded with Laurence Olivier during film-making. Keep an eye open too for the history of local cinema and Chichester Cinema via the Timeline along the bottom of the magazine’s pages. And award-winning Roger Gibson? Read his revealing piece on how he grew the cinema from scratch over four decades, creating a highly valued and much-loved artform in the community and further afield.
CONGRATULATIONS
THEATRE
OPERA & BALLET CLASSICAL MUSIC
Ruby Magazine further includes comments from supporters, trustees past and present, and Mark Bradshaw, chief projectionist, on what digital has brought to the cinema. The centre pages host a quiz of proportions from
MUSIC CONCERT
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to the Chichester Cinema on its Ruby Anniversary from everyone at More2Screen, we look forward to bringing you more fantastic events in 2019!
@more2screen more2screen.com
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Milestones of the Past 40 Years: 1979-2019 From February through to December on each first and third Tuesday of the month, we will be screening milestones and highlights of specific years in our Cinema history. In most cases, we will be charging an admission price of £2, reflecting the original ticket price in the first few years as a film society at the Chichester College of Technology in the 80’s. Throughout this programme, you will find a ticker tape running along the bottom of selected pages, with highlights of the 40 Years of Chichester Cinema at New Park and the history of local cinema.
Here are some of our Ruby Tuesday selections: Manhattan – The Cinema begins
Napoleon (plus Meal) – A recent highlight
Testimony (with Tony Palmer Intro) – 35mm installed
The Smallest Show on Earth – Retractable seating installed
The Ladykillers – Alec Guinness visits
High Society – 1st Open Air Screening
Secrets & Lies – Film Society of the Year Award presented by Mike Leigh
Surprise Film – 1st Festival Surprise Film
Van Gogh – 1st Chichester Film Festival
Love and Death (Plus party) – to mark our 1st ever screening 20 September 1979
The War of The Roses – Kathleen Turner visit
Les Enfants du Paradis – Digital Cinema installed
Run Lola Run – 1st Audience Award
Two Women – Ralph Fiennes visit
Belleville Rendez-Vous – Walter Francisco joined the team
Casablanca – 1st Drive-In Cinema
chichestercinema.org
FORTY YEARS OF CINEMA PARADISO
Founder Roger Gibson charts the cinema’s remarkable progress through the decades. When the last remaining cinema in Chichester, the Granada, closed in 1979, Dr Gorrie, Principal of Chichester College of Technology, asked me if we could consider opening a Film Society at the College. Being a College lecturer in Film, Art and History of Art (one of my best A-level film students Ninian is now the film oracle at New Park Box Office) and having run courses in The Art of Film since 1969 under the auspices of the WEA and Southampton University, a film culture already existed, so I started our first programme of the Chichester Adult Education Film Society on 20 September 1979 with Woody Allen’s ‘Love and Death’. This will be repeated for our Ruby Anniversary Centre piece on Friday 20 September with a party.
These were wild, primitive and exciting times as we introduced weekend all night programmes.
The College Film Society screened on 16mm in the large College Hall offering 40 films a year for only £10 and 300 members enrolled. Looking back, immodestly, I am impressed with some of the imaginative double bills I programmed and personally introduced: ‘Metropolis’ + ‘Things to Come’; ‘Rocky Horror Show’ + ‘Eraserhead’, ‘Dance with a Stranger’ + ‘Yield to the Night’. The quality of the
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The birth of cinema in Sussex takes place in Brighton at Pandora Gallery by West Pier
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programming was recognised when we received several Film Society Awards during the early 80’s.
the late chairman Jonathan Ingrams, who told me “You are there to spend money-I am there to try to stop you!”
Whilst continuing with the annual college programmes (increased to twice weekly) at the renamed Chichester City Film Society, I dipped my toes into using the New Park Community Centre, starting a Junior Film Club for 7 to 15-year-olds on Saturday mornings, with the help of my 15-year-old neighbour Ross Bevan. Originally part of the club, he became an apprentice projectionist. These were wild, primitive and exciting times as we introduced weekend all-night programmes including ‘Woodstock,’ All-night Horror, Sci-fi and ‘Mad Max’ with two 16mm projectors perched on a rickety table using a makeshift sheet. With sold-out audiences of mainly youngsters spilling over to sitting on the floor, this probably broke all safety regulations! Refreshments were provided by my family throughout.
In 1986/87, 115 films were shown over 103 days with admissions of 10,660. By 2001/2, 344 films over 336 days with 69,000 admissions had been achieved. In 1992 the first modest Chichester Film Festival was mounted featuring 33 new films. We survived the ten-screen multiplex, introduced open air screenings, installed new ramped seating twice and had various upgrades of state-of-the-art equipment, including digital which has allowed the relaying of the very popular live satellite Performance events: opera, ballet, theatre, and finally the Metropolitan.
In 1986 the College society moved permanently into New Park, firstly for three days a week, then the ‘Full Monty’ of seven days and nights. We installed 35mm in 1987, a very stressful time managing various second-hand equipment, but Ross Bevan, by now a very experienced projectionist, coped. With this training he has gone on to be a chief advisor for Imax worldwide!
To celebrate our Ruby Anniversary and the many achievements of the past 40 years I have selected some highlights to be presented on alternative Ruby Tuesdays, scheduling films that illustrate these milestones, which are listed elsewhere. It is said that the passing of a person is the losing of a library. In the meantime, with my ever-supportive wife Jo, I look forward to sharing this ‘library’ with you over 2019, with this magazine and associated events.
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We slowly changed the “film club” image and rebranded, our third name changed to Chichester Cinema at New Park. Eventually we were able to appoint our first general manager, Ellen Cheshire, which helped me considerably. Together with our stalwart Walter Francisco joining us in 2013, the cinema was supported by a terrific team of professionals and enthusiastic volunteers as well as seven chairpersons in succession. Various committees and trustees survived and supported my ambitious plans. I remember the advice given to me by Hove’s George Albert Smith, founder, British Film Industry, acquires his first camera, makes 31 films
Over the years distinguished visitors from the film world have included Alec Guinness, Ken Russell, Kathleen Turner, Philip French, John Lithgow, Ralph Fiennes and Steve Coogan.
Roger Gibson
Roger Gibson: Self Portrait 1960
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WE’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER
BOAT Over the last 40 years, Chichester Cinema at New Park has developed from a Film Society screening 40 films per year to students once a week, to the record attendance of over 76,000 in 2018 (1,517 screenings of 480 films). Clear proof that Chichester
and its surrounding areas has a very healthy population of film lovers. The audience, not to mention the quantity and variety of films, built up at a healthy rate up to 2002 when over 68,000 people saw a film at New Park. With the introduction of the local multiplex came a slight decline, where an annual average of 55,000 patrons attended from 2004 to 2010. Since then, audience numbers have risen consistently to our record year in 2018, mirrored by attendances at the annual Chichester International Film Festival, this year in its 28th edition. It is quite apt that a 40th Anniversary is
celebrated with the Ruby gemstone. With its properties of passion, durability, lustre, and rarity, this queen of stones and stone of kings can be seen as a symbol of our unique Chichester Cinema. One that was born out of a fiery passion for this exciting art that we love; has survived (and thrived) 40 years of changing cinematic and social times; prides itself in screening the best in cinema from the UK and abroad; and is one of the few truly independent cinemas in the country… Long may it reign! Walter Francisco General Manager of Chichester Cinema at New Park
Huge congratulations to our friends at Chichester Cinema at New Park - and a special thanks from Executive Producer Phil Grabsky to your wonderful cinema! Join EXHIBITION ON SCREEN in the Ruby Anniversary celebrations this year with…
REMBRANDT VAN GOGH PICASSO &JAPAN
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FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON & RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM
FROM 5 - 7 FEBRUARY 2019
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Leonardo
Lucian Freud
Easter in Art
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In Search of In Search of In Search of In Search of Beethoven Mozart Chopin Haydn
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Concerto
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NEW PARK SHOWS US NEW PLACES
FILMED IN WEST SUSSEX
Bob Connell, Festival Patron, outlines his sense of cinematic place.
Jane Weeks reveals those major films with a mostly British story filmed with a Sussex backdrop.
The French have always been good at creating a sense of place in films – Xavier Beauvois’ ‘The Guardians’ is an outstanding recent example. British directors, though, seem to have slowly lost the ability to tie drama to a specific place, until Joanna Hogg showed the way with her Scilly Isles drama ‘Archipelago’ with Tom Hiddleston in 2010. Since 2016, British films evoking a particular place have blossomed, all with superb young leads and mainly directorial debuts. In 2016, Hope Dickson Leach gave us the gritty Somerset Levels story ‘The Levelling’ with Ellie Kendrick. In quick succession after that, came William Oldroyd’s ‘Lady Macbeth’ with Florence Pugh, set in the Northumberland moors; two Yorkshire farm dramas filmed only a few miles apart - Francis Lee’s ‘God’s Own Country’ with Josh O’Connor (Airedale) and Clio Barnard’s ‘Dark River’ with Ruth Wilson (Wharfedale); and most recently, the formidable debut of Michael Pearce’s Jersey saga ‘Beast’ with Jessie Buckley. And Peter Mackie Burns’ ‘Daphne’ with Emily Beecham has a moody London setting. Of course, all these films were shown at ‘New Park’, helping us appreciate this exciting, new-found ‘sense of place’ as an unfolding whole. See Bob Connell’s second piece about ‘Manhattan’ at www.chichestercinema.org
Arundel Castle and Petworth House are just two of the key film settings, playing to our love of historical dramas. Blackbird (2019) – Chichester and West Wittering Beach Stan & Ollie (2018) – Worthing Lido Wonder Woman (2017) – Arundel Castle Mr Turner (2014) – Petworth House Maleficent (2014) – Petworth House Young Victoria (2009) – Arundel Castle And When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007) – West Wittering Beach Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) – Petworth House The Da Vinci Code (2006) – Shoreham Airport The Madness of King George (1994) – Arundel Castle A View to a Kill (1985) – Amberley Working Museum Barry Lyndon (1975) – Petworth House Mary Queen of Scots (1971) – Parham House The Leather Boys (1964) – Butlin’s Holiday Camp, Bognor Regis
chichestercinema.org
THE MYSTERIOUS MAGGIE AND ME He may have written the biography of the fun, fearsome and still-flourishing Dame Maggie Smith but she remains an enigma, muses theatre critic and author Michael Coveney.
And here she is, like the cinema, still flourishing, about to release by what is by my computation her 54th movie, ‘Downton Abbey’. Of course, that television series, along with the ‘Harry Potter’ film franchise, has brought her artful magnificence to a whole new generation – perhaps two different, but still compatible, audiences – in the strictly observant guises of the Lady Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, and Professor Minerva McGonagall of Hogwarts. McGonagall was the only daughter of a Scottish Presbyterian, Chichester’s Corn Exchange (now Next), East Street, has city’s first screening
as was Maggie, and this fuels her distinctly tart performance, as it did Miss Brodie. “Miss Brodie in a witch’s hat” is how Maggie describes McGonagall, and it’s this sly naughtiness about her that both defines many of her performances and which drew me to her as an actress. She’s funny and sharp and equally adept at comedy and tragedy, often spinning between both on the same line. Ever since I first saw her, on stage at the Old Vic, as Silvia in ‘The Recruiting Officer’ and Desdemona in ‘Othello’, both with Laurence Olivier leading the company, I have been a devoted admirer, her career on stage and film running through my life, as it does for so many, like a sparkling river. When I first wrote her biography 25 years ago, she remarked that I was her “premature obituarist”. When she got wind of my re-written, updated edition two years ago, she suggested I’d turned necrophiliac. She always pretended I wasn’t writing the book, though my task was greenlit in the first place by her second
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In celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Chichester Cinema at New Park it’s extraordinary to realise that, in the same year of its launch, 1979, its patron Dame Maggie Smith accepted her second Oscar, for Neil Simon’s ‘California Suite’ directed by Herbert Ross – ten years after winning her first, for ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ directed by Ronald Neame. She’s been a star for half a century.
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Worthing’s William Dickson’s unique use of 70mm film. Makes ‘Emerging from the Boathouse’
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She’s funny and sharp and equally adept at comedy and tragedy
When we last had lunch she said it was “a bit weird” to share a meal with someone who “knows more about you than you do.” And when we once got lost looking for the restaurant in Heal’s during a rehearsal break, and found ourselves in the bedding department, she acidly cried, “Have you booked a table, or is it a room?!”
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She remains a mystery, an enigma. The secret part of herself is the key to her instinctive brilliance as an actress – and this room remains locked, defying critical discussion or analysis. Like her late, great friend, Paul Scofield, she is
as dazzled and mystified by what she does as are we all. So my book is an attempt to define, rather than solve, this mystery. And I’ve never had so much fun with my clothes on. Michael Coveney has been a theatre critic successively on the Financial Times, Observer and Daily Mail, is the author of books Photo: Pete Dazeley about the Glasgow Citizens, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mike Leigh, Ken Campbell and, coming soon, the amateur theatre. ‘Maggie Smith: A Biography’ is published by Orion. Maggie Smith is Vice-President of Chichester Cinema at New Park as is Kenneth Branagh.
George Albert Smith’s Hove film studio develops experimental techniques: cutting, close-ups & double-exposure
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husband, the screenwriter Beverley Cross. She won’t read it, any more than she will ever read reviews or indeed watch herself on screen.
Dialogue titles begin to appear
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AN EDUCATION Mike Jennings outlines the Education Department’s vibrant, diverse courses and talks for adults and school children.
highly rated Dreamworks film course and Saturday Day Courses.
As a charity, Chichester Cinema at New Park has education at its heart for all ages. Our aim? To deepen knowledge and appreciation of cinema importance in the world. Our volunteer education team are Mike Jennings (Lead Trustee, Education); Rosemary Coxon (Education Officer); Michael Cox (Trustee); Henry Beltran (Front of House Manager), and five Assistant Officers, David Coxon, Felicia HughesFreeland, Michael Schurch, Brian Baker and Patrick Hargood.
We also work with Chichester Festival Theatre, University of Chichester and the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, organising tours, screenings and courses.
Saturday Day Courses have included The Suffragette Movement; The Coen Bros; Screening Diversity; Hitchcock; Italian Neorealism and others. Shorter courses have looked at The Technical History of Cinema; Song and Dance on Film; Black Britain; and the Comedy Films of Buster Keaton, the Marx Bros and Jacques Tati. Our tutors include Gareth Evans, Media Studies Head, Bishop Luffa: (The Western, Woody Allen); Ellen Cheshire, writer, broadcaster (Chaplin, Jane Campion and others); and Charles Rollings (WW2/POW films and the Gangster films genre).
Studios began distributing publicity stills of actors and actresses
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Our day and short course film tutors, film writers and cultural historians with national and international reputations, include Ian Christie, Professor of Film at Birkbeck College, London, (Russian Cinema and The Films of Powell and Pressburger); Nick Smedley (Preston Sturges and Hollywood Cinema); Ian Haydn Smith (Hitchcock); the BFI’s Nick Scudamore (Thrillers); and Richard Cupidi, who runs the
Programmes for primary and secondary schools are tailored to Key Stages curriculum topics, our recent courses for Southbourne Juniors, Chichester Free School and Bishop Luffa Secondary School have included such diversity as Shakespeare Plays, A Christmas Carol, Children in War, Midnight Gang and Sleeping Beauty. The children come in to the cinema to see film clips and explore relevant issues. Look for our programme of courses and talks on the final pages of each season’s programme. If you have suggestions for talks and courses on films, directors or genres, please contact Rosemary Coxon. dandr@coxon184.plus.com Mike Jennings, Lead Trustee, Education 2014-2019
Max Factor creates the first makeup formulated especially for film
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GUEST TALENT Actors, Directors, Producers, Writers and Critics who have visited Chichester Cinema and the Chichester International Film Festival (1992-1999) 1992 Christine Edzard (As You Like It)
1997 Kathleen Turner (The War of the Roses)
Tony Palmer (Parsifal - and Most Years Following)
1993 Michael Relph (Saraband for Dead Lovers)
Neil Brand (Archive programme)
Derek Malcolm (Censorship)
Julian Richards (Darklands)
1999 Greta Scacchi (Red Violin, Tom’s Midnight Garden)
1994 Michael Relph (The Smallest Show on Earth) Margaret Ford, Brian Baxter (Censorship Debate) 1995 Neil Brand (Blackmail silent version) 1996 Alec Guinness (Il Postino)
1998 John Schlesinger (Filmed interview) Simon Callow (Scarlet Tunic)
Ian Bannen (Waking Ted) John Madden (Shakespeare in Love)
Simon Relph (Land Girls) Keith Baxter (Chimes at Midnight)
Phil Davies (Hold Back the Night) Andrew Eaton (Wonderland)
Credits begin to appear regularly at the beginning of motion pictures
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Why Chichester Cinema at New Park? Because small IS beautiful. Favourite film: ‘The Pink Panther’ Strikes Again (Blake Edwards, 1976). Happy Ruby Anniversary! John Coldstream
Olympia Electric Theatre opens at Northgate, Chichester, in May
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“THE MOST BORING STAR? HARRISON FORD BY MILES!” Joseph Gilson talks to veteran film critic Derek Malcolm about his esteemed career, the past, present and future of cinema, and the time the Dalai Lama gave him some advice. Q. Was there a moment, a specific film perhaps, that made you fall in love with cinema? A. I thought I was going to be a theatre critic until I was made film critic by the late Peter Preston, editor of The Guardian. I don’t quite know why. Possibly because he didn’t know what to do with me after he had sacked Richard Roud, a fine critic who had made the mistake of writing a oneword review of ‘The Sound of Music’, which was then the most popular film of all time at the box-office. It read: “The Sound of Music’ (Odeon, Leicester Square, U certificate) No.” Then I saw some of the films of Yasujirô Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi, the great Japanese directors. I’ve never forgotten the effect on me of ‘Tokyo Story’ or ‘The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums’. Changed my life. Q. Have you had any run-ins with filmmakers who have, let’s say, disagreed with your opinion of their film? A. Not many real run-ins. But quite a lot of directors or actors probably dislike me, thinking I dislike their work in general. I certainly dislike some of them! Brian Singer, for example, and John Travolta. The most boring star to interview? Harrison Ford by miles!
Photoplay, first true movie “fan” magazine, debuts and gives rise to celebrity and fan culture
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Q. In your top 100 films, the most recent entry is ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ (1991). Do you think the standard of filmmaking has dropped or is it
Derek Malcolm and George Lucas
more a case of films needing time to immortalise themselves as classics? A. There are certainly not the great European names around compared to when I started. Where are the Buñuels, Bergmans, Tarkovskys and Fellinis now, or the Hawks and Fords in America come to that? It is not a golden age but year after year really good films manage to surface, like ‘Roma’, ‘Cold War’, ‘The Favourite’ and ‘Shoplifters’. There’s hope left. Continue to read this interview with Derek Malcolm at www.chichestercinema.org Chichester Cinema at New Park is a haven of friendship, culture and excellent coffee. Favourite film: The Third Man (new 4K Version). Glyn Edmunds
The Picturedrome opens in South Street, Chichester, seating 1,000. Becomes the Plaza, then the Odeon. Now Iceland supermarket.
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Roger’s vision has constantly attracted others to share in it
Sewing miles of blackout material and baking potatoes in the small hours for horror all-nighters were labours of love in the early days of the cinema, writes Jo Gibson.
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On a cold morning in 1986, a couple of friends, Roger and myself stood in the rather bleak hall at the New Park Centre.
I’VE WATC SOMETHIN REMARKA UNFOLD No facilities for film viewing at all. BUT – a vision of what might be. People rallied. Our neighbour made a pulley of sorts, enabling the second-hand screen to be raised out of the way for playgroup use in the mornings. And I sewed miles and miles of blackout material in an effort to prevent any hint of light through windows during screenings.
Depression: Cinemas are some of the few buildings constructed
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When I first knew Roger, he was an art student at the Royal Academy schools. Those early ‘dates’ in 1960 were spent at the National Film Theatre, Ronnie Scott’s and various musical venues. Moving to Chichester in 1964 and expecting our first child, I did wonder how Roger, an urban man, would survive – no longer within easy reach of cinemas and concert halls. However... Teaching art at the then College of Further Education Roger also devised courses on ‘The Art of the Film’ under the auspices of the Workers’ Education Association. I attended some of these, depending on availability of babysitters (two babies by then). A welcome relief from nappies and a stimulating approach to film meaning by way of guided study.
Other inventive, sometimes crazy schemes helped this embryonic cinema onto its feet. Often against the odds. When the AllNight Movies featured a horror programme, I was persuaded to bake potatoes at home, ferrying them through the night to the cinema (yes, till 5 am). The oven at New Park didn’t heat up sufficiently!
Gaumont, Northgate, Chichester, opens with ‘King Solomon’s Mines’. Seats 1,300
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I was also serving Dracula (tomato) soup and Frankenstein (Frankfurter) sausages. I dished out a blander ‘menu’ to the Saturday morning kids at Junior Film Club – orange squash and biscuits, helped by our daughter. There was a terrific, resourceful, ‘all hands on deck’ feel about things – lots of experiment and fun.
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Roger’s vision has constantly attracted others to share in it. This response enabled
Jo Gibson, Alec Guinness and Roger Gibson
a small concern to become the cinema we have today. It has depended on volunteers and I suppose I’m one of them – standby for box office and ticket-taking in the beginning, and also a committee member with refreshments when meetings were held at home in the early days. Living alongside this metamorphosing creature (the cinema, not Roger), I’ve watched something remarkable unfold. Here’s to the next 40 years.
Corn Exchange East Street, Chichester, becomes the Granada. Closes in 1980. Last film ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’
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CHED NG ABLE
The Gaumont, Northgate, Chichester, closes
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THE GUVNOR’S WIFE:
ENCOUNTERS WITH LAURENCE OLIVIER “After his ‘audition’ which included recitations of several Shakespearean roles, he gave us a pair of his shoes”, says filmmaker Don Boyd. Laurence Olivier had a powerful connection to the cultural life of West Sussex as first artistic director of the Chichester Theatre in 1962. Like all young aspiring filmmakers who had seen his Shakespearean movies or been to the Old Vic to witness his stagecraft, I was in awe and never imagined that I would know him on a personal level, let alone work with him. In 1988 I was producing a film version of Benjamin Britten’s oratorio ‘War Requiem’. The great director Derek Jarman and I had collaborated on a scenario, the BBC agreeing to be our partner. The Britten estate had allowed us to use the entire score but only if we used no sound effects or dialogue over the music. Why not start what was essentially a silent film with music featuring a First World War veteran? We could have a voiceover of Wilfred Owens’ poem ‘Strange Meeting’ and I laughingly suggested
Laurence Olivier? I called his agent and Derek and I found ourselves at Olivier’s Chelsea home. The working experience with Olivier, now 81, was eccentric. After his ‘audition’ - recitations of several Shakespearean roles - he gave us a pair of his shoes for the costume designer (size 12). He regularly rang “just to enthuse”. On one occasion he asked which accent he should use for the poetry and gave me ‘Strange Meeting’ in Texan, Irish, Scottish and ‘Larry speak’ – the latter my preferred option. Before his impeccably delivered recording was made in his trailer on the set, a disused old hospital in Kent, he had filmed a scene in a wheelchair with Tilda Swinton. He insisted on meeting my family, and before being photographed for publicity purposes, Hilary, my wife, two of our daughters and I followed him to the hospital’s makeshift photographic studio. As he shuffled slowly down a corridor
occasionally looking over his shoulder, he suddenly stopped, looked straight at us and, in his unmistakable carefully pitched theatrical voice, lifting his trilby hat and gesturing with charming respect towards Hilary, he boomed out “To the guvnor’s wife”. We all had tears piling down our faces. ‘War Requiem’ was his last acting appearance before his death in July 1989. The film director Don Boyd lives in Bosham with Hilary, ‘the guvnor’s wife’, and is working on two films he has co-written – one set In Morocco, the other in South Africa. Written by Don Boyd exclusively for the commemorative magazine. Copyright.
Nathaniel Parker, Tilda Swinton & Laurence Olivier
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and Strategic Development. Each group meets between Board meetings to discuss issues, plans and ongoing developments, and refers these to the Board for information, discussion and final decisions. Trustees work with full and parttime staff in developing the cinema’s vision and purposeful direction via its film programming and professional operation; its physical upkeep and relationship with other bodies; especially the New Park Community Centre, which rents spaces to the cinema.
Our patrons’ and supporters’ experience of the cinema centres around the excellent programme of films and educational sessions we run. But there is another side to the whole operation that is mostly invisible to the general audience, that of the Trustees. Chichester Cinema at New Park (CCNP) is a registered charity, and, like all charities, is overseen by a Board of Trustees. They are all volunteers who help to govern CCNP’s aims, policies and procedures so that the cinema is run efficiently, fairly, responsibly and legally. The Trustees come with a wealth of expertise, skills and experience via diverse careers and workplaces including commercial cinema and business operations, finance, education, the law, journalism, public relations and voluntary work.
David Brown expands: “We look to enhance and protect the charity’s reputation and act as active ambassadors. We also need to stay up to date and maintain a good mix of skills and we’re always looking for people who can bring specific expertise. We all have a great love for this cinema, its independence and what it has achieved over forty years for the community and further afield. Come and talk to us if you have in interest in joining the board.” Please email Debbie Ford, Company Secretary and Trustee. debbielford@gmail.com
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CINEMA AS A LIMITED CHARITABLE COMPANY CREATED THE PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATION IT IS TODAY.
Currently there are seven Trustees whose Chair is David Brown. They work with Walter Francisco, the General Manager, Roger Gibson, the cinema’s founder and President, and Carol Godsmark, the cinema’s Press and Marketing Officer.
Andrew Vance, Pat Bowman, Roger Harrison and Rod Fennell recall their time as trustee officers in the early years working with Roger Gibson, Ellen Cheshire, the cinema’s first general manager, adding to their recollections.
The Board has three main steering groups to help focus and monitor the main areas of operation: People, Governance and Finance; Education;
Read their words on www.chichestercinema.org
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STILL SHAKEN BUT STIRRED BY BOND The ink may be drying on their seventh Bond screenplay, but local writers Robert Wade and Neal Purvis are still pinching themselves. Robert explains why.
20th September ‘Love and Death’ (Woody Allen) first film screened (on 16mm) at Chichester College by Roger Gibson
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Neal Purvis and Robert Wade
Over 40 films shown over a 30-week season. Membership limited to 300
We’re riding along beside him, with the swoop that only James Bond has
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I am often asked how I came to be involved with the James Bond films, so much so that I have considered getting a T-shirt printed with the answer on it. The problem is the lettering would have to be so small that no-one would be able to read it…
Suffice to say that somehow, having languished in obscurity for many years, my writing partner Neal Purvis and I came to the attention of producers Barbara Broccoli and her brother Michael G Wilson, and they asked us to their incredibly intimidating office on Piccadilly. Now, normally important people don’t actually sit down with unimportant people – they have a buffer to stop them getting through. But that is where Barbara and Michael are different, and I’m sure it’s part of the secret of their success; they’ll talk with anyone who cares about the same thing they do. Namely, making the next Bond film better than the last. We thought it must just be some clerical error, so with no expectation of actually getting the job, we weren’t afraid to throw out some silly but amusing ideas – but eventually after jumping a few more hoops with the studio (MGM), we suddenly found ourselves in the hot seat. They must have liked us.
The Society’s name changes to the Chichester College Film Society
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It was very daunting to be entrusted with shepherding through the next chapter of a character we’d grown up in awe of. We were fans, just like any other young British men our age, and had each read most of the Ian Fleming novels as a rite of passage to manhood but had never really thought about James Bond; he was just there as you grew up.
And as we grappled with it, we became aware of how tricky a bill it is to deliver on – you have to create something that feels new (when there have been so many already made – not to mention all the imitators), yet also feels the same, not straying too far from what’s gone before. A huge creative challenge, even if it is merely an entertainment. We took it seriously, tried to imagine this extraordinary character as if he was real. The essential elements for us were: • Wherever he goes, Bond has impact. • He is a man with a shadow over him. • If he walked into the room you were in, it would lower the temperature. • He’s not gloomy, but the exposure to death and betrayal has worn away any innocence. • His appetite for the good things is borne out of knowing how short life can be – and leads to an almost oppressive intensity. In fact, he would tire you out very quickly. But because in the movies and books we’re with Bond, we don’t notice it. We’re riding along beside him, with the swoop that only James Bond has. There is no glance back to the damage he leaves behind… It was not always easy to put this into practice, but when the opportunity came to adapt Ian Fleming’s first novel ‘Casino Royale’, it allowed us to properly approach the character in line with that view. And Daniel Craig was perfect to step into those slightly darker shoes. What is amazing to us is that we are now doing our seventh James Bond film. It was never our plan (and how could it even be a hope?) to become so involved in so many international misadventures… But the next one is coming – to a Chichester Cinema at New Park near you.
Chichester City Film Society awarded “Film Society of the Year Award.” by Southern Arts
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I KNOW A JEWEL WHEN I SEE ONE Says Nick Smedley, a CCNP course tutor and passionate cinephile. New Park is one of those jewels which has survived the years of spoliation of cultural treasures outside our major cities. It has kept alive the tradition of exciting new
cinema from around the world, interspersed with wonderful classics and a wealth of educational events where filmlovers can meet to discuss and celebrate one of the greatest art forms of our time. Whether we are watching the latest Oscar-contender from Hollywood or chewing over the subtexts of Tarkovsky’s mise-enscène in a gloomy hall on uncomfortable chairs, one thing you know about New Park – cinema is alive! I’m a regular punter and I also give innumerable
seminars which regularly attract record low numbers of people who clearly haven’t got anything better to do, or who may have walked into the wrong venue by mistake. It’s got something for everyone, and the place is always humming with film talk, whether it’s Charlie Chaplin or independent cinema in Paraguay. It’s my favourite place to watch films, to talk films and to teach films. Here’s to the next xx years. Nick Smedley teaches at London University, is a senior advisor to the BFI and writes on Hollywood from the 1930’s - 40’s.
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RUBY QUIZ Kevin Ashman, ‘Eggheads’ (BBC2) quizzer par excellence, authors the devilish Ruby Film Quiz.
Welcome to the Chichester Cinema 40th anniversary quiz. (Fanfare.) Over the next three pages, you will find the first twenty of forty questions, one for each year of that period, 1979-2018 inclusive. Many of them relate directly to something from the year concerned, but by no means all of them. Sometimes the year is simply a hook, and the question goes off at a bit of a tangent. This is for the sake of variety (at least that’s my excuse). The questions also tend to be quite lengthy, as
I’ve often included what might be considered strictly as extraneous information, in a possibly vain attempt to make them more interesting. They’re frequently easier than they might appear at first sight (he said). My apologies if your favourite genre/country/ actor/director/colour/ pet/anything doesn’t get a look-in, but there were only 40! There’s also an acrostic. The first letter of each question spells out an appropriate message.
So let’s begin (or is that end?) with an apocalypse... 1. 1979 ‘Apocalypse Now’ suffered many problems during its making, chronicled in a 1991 documentary Apocalypse Now (1979) whose title plays on the original film’s source material. What is the documentary’s main title (its subtitle is ‘A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse’)? 2. 1980 Venice Film Festival has occasionally had ties for its Golden Lion award for best film. 1980 was one of those occasions. Tying with John Cassavetes’ ‘Gloria’, and also featuring low-level characters caught up in the world of organised crime, was which American-set Louis Malle film?
3. 1981 ‘Escape To Victory’ – I didn’t say they’d all be questions about good films – was an unlikely tale of Allied POWs taking on the Germans in a football match as part of an elaborate escape attempt. Quite a few real footballers – more or less famous – lent their expertise to proceedings. The presence of one of the most famous of them in the story was passed off by making his character ‘Trinidadian’. Which footballer? 4. 1982 Rainer Werner Fassbinder, prolific enfant terrible of the New German Cinema, died at the age of 37 this year. The year before, one of his bigger budget productions told – very loosely – the story of Third Reich era singer Lale Andersen. Its title is that of the song perhaps most associated with her. What is the title?
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5. 1983 ‘Yentl’, released this year, had a long and troubled gestation. Barbra Streisand had been trying to get I. B. Singer’s story – of a girl dressing as a boy in order to study – made since the late 1960’s. Over time it had been turned into a musical, and ten years added to the lead character’s age (making her 26), so that Streisand could star. To within a year either way – which seems only fair in the circumstances - how old was Streisand when the film was released? 6. 1984 Haing S. Ngor had himself survived the terrible events portrayed in the film of this year for which he was to win a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. Which film?
7. 1985 A good year for future British actresses. Both born in this year were two current leading British actresses, one of whom made her screen debut in 2005 playing the younger sister of the other in an adaptation of a literary classic (although the actual gap between them is only about two months). Name either. 8. 1986 Pixar was founded as an independent company in this year. It was spun off from the graphics group of which filmmaker’s own eponymous corporation founded fifteen years before? 9. 1987 Palme d’Ors don’t grow on trees, and Danish director Bille August is one of only a handful of directors to
Audrey Hepburn (1993)
have two films win the Cannes top prize. ‘Pelle the Conqueror’, released in 1987, won the following year. August won again in 1992 for ‘The Best Intentions’, based on semi-autobiographical writings by which fellow Scandinavian filmmaker? 10. 1988 ‘Young Guns’, starring many members of the so-called Brat Pack – Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen et al – featured the story of which famous Wild West outlaw, a popular subject for movies over the years? 11. 1989 Released this year was the last James Bond film for six years, because of battles over rights issues. (How did people cope?) What was it called? 12. 1990 Under BAFTA rules for UK release dates, the Italian classic ‘Cinema Paradiso’ wound up winning five awards in 1990, even though it had originally been released at home some eighteen months before. And after all that... One of its awards was for its music, by which famous composer, co-credited with his son?
Cinema Paradiso (1990)
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13. 1991 Belle is the heroine of the 30th Disney animated feature film, released this year. An oft-told tale, it became the first animated film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Which film? 14. 1992 ‘Yurusarezaru Mono’ is a 2013 Japanese samurai film which reverses the tradition of samurai movies being remade as westerns. It is itself a remake of which 1992 award-winning western? 15. 1993 Audrey Hepburn died in this year. Although British by nationality, she was born in which European capital city? 16. 1994 Named in 2007 by the International Documentary Association as its all-time greatest documentary for inclusion in the prestigious US National Film Registry, this 1994 release, premiered at the Sundance Festival, concerned the lives and struggles of two young African-Americans aspiring to become NBA basketball players. What is it called?
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
17. 1995 ‘Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud’ was the last film of the French director Claude Sautet. Both this and his penultimate film, ‘Un Coeur En Hiver’, had as their female lead which then rising actress, now also known as a social activist? 18. 1996 ‘Independence Day’ was by some distance the highestgrossing movie worldwide of 1996. Which actor, soon to be seen on the London stage at the Old Vic in Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’, plays the heroic action man American President (oh how times change)? 19. 1997 Visual effects are a major part of
modern cinema – which 1997 blockbuster was the winner of the Academy Award for these at the next ceremony (i.e. held in 1998)? (It won plenty of others too.) 20. 1998 Elizabeth I has very recently been played on screen by an Australian actress, Margot Robbie, but she was beaten to it in this year by fellow countrywoman Cate Blanchett, in ‘Elizabeth’. Elizabeth’s sparring partner Mary Queen of Scots had top billing in the recent film, played by an Irish actress. But which English actress (from Nottingham) played her in ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’, the 2007 sequel to the 1998 film?
The remaining questions (and answers) can be found at www.chichestercinema.org
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GUEST TALENT Actors, Directors, Producers, Writers and Critics who have visited Chichester Cinema and the Chichester International Film Festival (2000 - 2009) 2000 Mike Leigh (3 Films)
2005 David McKenzie (Asylum)
Matt Lidsey (Caught in The Act)
Mike Figgis (Miss Julie)
David Warner (Suitable Case for Treatment)
Meneka Das (Little Box of Sweets)
2006 Virginia McKenna & Amanda Waring (What Do You See?)
2009 David Hare (Licking Hitler &retro)
Jenniphr & Greer Goodman (Tao of Steve) 2001 Terence Davies (House of Mirth & retro) Michael Winner (Chorus of Disapproval & 5 films)
Cast and Crew (The West Wittering Affair)
John Madden (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin)
2007 Ronald Harwood (The Dresser & Retro)
Jan Harlan & Tony Palmer (Kubrick retro)
Billy Eltringham (Mrs Radcliffe’s Revolution)
2002 Don Boyd (My Kingdom)
2008 Mark Harman (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas)
Alex Cox (Revenger’s Tragedy) 2004 Kerry Fox (Angel at My Table & Intimacy)
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Hamish McAlpine (Censorship / Tartan films)
Ken Trodd, Pat O’Connor (A Month in the Country) Steven Poliakoff & Peter Duffel (Caught on a Train)
Bernard Rose (Kreutzer Sonata) Kurt Unger & Billy King (She Who Would Be Pope) Jan Dunn (The Calling) Peter Duffel (England Made Me) Derek Malcolm (Discussion)
Corin Redgrave (Stars Look Down) Julian Richards (Summer Scars)
British Film Year 26 of the 55 films shown that season are British
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Nick Moran (Christie Malory’s Own Double Entry)
Ken Russell (Gothic & Miranda Richardson tribute)
The Chichester City Film Society moves to New Park Community Centre
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Pallant House Gallery’s Simon Martin on collaboration with the cinema. Pallant House Gallery wishes the Chichester Cinema at New Park a very happy 40th anniversary. The cinema is one of the reasons why Chichester has so much to offer culturally to its citizens and visitors, and the partnerships between the two institutions have enriched the understanding of the themes and ideas in both
our programmes. Notable ventures have included a season of avant-garde Mexican films to coincide with the exhibition Surreal Friends; Leonora Carrington, Remedios Faros and Kati Horner in 2010; powerful films and talks alongside the exhibition Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War in 2014 and a programme of dramas and talks, including an introduction by Dame Eileen Atkins, to accompany the exhibition of women artists marking the centenary of partial women’s suffrage in 2018: Virginia Woolf: an exhibition inspired by her writings. Each of these collaborations have grappled with complex issues and demonstrated
that Chichester is by no means a sleepy cathedral city, but a place that engages with international concerns – as reflected in Chichester Cinema’s excellent International Film Festival. Simon Martin, Director of Pallant House Gallery
Chichester is by no means a sleepy cathedral city, but a place that engages with international concerns
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01243 811301 enquiries@westdean.ac.uk West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0QZ
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WORLD CLASS CREATIVITY IN THE LOCALE
Michael Holley, Head of Department, Creative & Digital Technologies, reveals the film production strengths of the new £35 million building at Chichester University’s Bognor Campus. After 180 years as an educational provider, this is an exciting time for the University of Chichester and the Department of Creative & Digital Technologies as we settle in to a brandnew specialist technology building on our Bognor Regis Campus. Our focus is on content creation for the creative industries such as film, TV, animation, games and advertising. Our tutors offer real industry experience and include BAFTA and Oscar winners.
‘The British Board of Film Classification is toughening up’ reports The Guardian on 19 January, 2019
Read Michael’s piece on this valuable new specialist space on at www.chichestercinema.org
35mm Projector installed. Later, Dolby Stereo Surround Sound. The cinema opens 7 days a week
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No film containing depictions of rape or strong sexual violence will now be given a rating below 15. The stricter rules are a result of a public consultation in which more than 10,000 people were interviewed.
The National Federation of Film Societies awards Chichester City Film Society – “Film Society of the Year”
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Until recently, projecting film onto a screen was an industry of make-do and mend, 35mm film the only format that could be played in almost any cinema in the world, until digital projection largely superseded it in the 21st century. Digital meant the demise of film stock and the projectionist, he or she no longer needed. Technical operations are done by cinema managers and other multitaskers with limited technical ability, resulting in lost shows and other issues. Automation, not humans, runs daily screenings. New Park is an exception and still prides itself on ensuring the best presentation experience with a strong team of four (James Stokes, Howard Johnson, Paul Stanley and myself). I’m the youngest at nearly 50. Long live the projectionist! Our projection box was not purpose built, so careful planning was needed to retain our Cinemeccanica Victoria 5 35mm projector alongside the new digital equipment. Digital projectors are networked to
servers. Hard disc drives come from the distributor and we ingest the films (DCP files). We select what we need and require a special license (KDM) to unlock the encrypted film. People ask me what do you do up in projection now it’s gone digital? Projection is an art form and having a good understanding of all technical aspects of the equipment is essential for good presentation and being part of the magic - it’s not like putting a DVD in the slot. How I see the future of cinema: The projected image will eventually become a thing of the past. Large format LCD screens will be used setting new standards in brightness, with contrast ratios of 100,000:1 without requiring lenses or projectors. This will offer cinema patrons corner-to-corner pin sharp images in cinemas. It certainly will be interesting to see where this technological cinematic journey takes us into the next decade and beyond.
FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
Chichester Cinema’s Evolving Digital Projection seen through the eyes and expertise of Chief Projectionist Mark Bradshaw.
I am glad to have played a key part in the technical success of Chichester Cinema at New Park over the years. Mark Bradshaw, Chief Projectionist at Chichester Cinema at New Park since 1997, is responsible for the highly regarded sound and projection standards at New Park.
First year of the Chichester International Film Festival
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The full article can be read at www.chichestercinema.org
James Stokes joins as projectionist, soon after by Mark Bradshaw, Chief Projectionist
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BEETLEJUICE SERVED HERE Victoria Jones recounts her work as a bar volunteer run by the New Park Sports and Social Club. When I gave up work in 2011, I wanted to do something useful that I found rewarding and so my interest in strange and controversial movies led me to become a bar volunteer. It gives me a real buzz to serve customers while exchanging views and encouraging them to see my latest best-ever film. I find people are incredibly patient and
many times I’ve been told what a good job the volunteers do – that’s so uplifting to hear. A card payment system was introduced a while ago – I just hope cash payments don’t completely disappear because I really enjoy reconciling the cash at the end of the shift, something so satisfying about counting money! The New
Park staff are great too, and that helps to make the whole bar volunteer experience a happy one. I feel privileged to be part of such a great organisation, and of course, I get to see lots of films.
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THE RISE AND RISE OF
NEW PARK CINEMA I arrived in Chichester in 2003, and as a film lover, considered myself very lucky to start work at our cinema almost immediately. The local multiplex had just opened, which for any other cinema might have spelled disaster. But with the undying support of our loyal patrons we have cemented ourselves as a very successful truly independent cinema… there are not too many of those left in the country! In my time as General Manager, there have been two major advances in the industry. The first was the rise of the internet, and its effect on publicising films, as well as simplifying the booking process for patrons.
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The second advance, and surely the most important in the cinema industry in decades, is the movement from 35mm film to digital projection. Just imagine
how much easier it is for both Cinema and Distributor, now that we can receive a film, ingest it into our system to screen at a later date, and pass the film on to the next cinema. I should point out that we have kept our 35mm projector, and still screen from it at various times throughout the year.
whilst projection quality has increased from 2K to 4K… there is a Leicester Square cinema where tickets can cost over £40 each. Our intention is not to compete with these, but to maintain our focus on quality film programming, coupled with very comfortable seating, and top-notch projection.
And what of the future… The future for Chichester Cinema at New Park lies with a second screen. It will allow for a more varied programme, with films screened on their release date. It will also provide a high standard auditorium for our adult and schools Film Education, screenings for the hearing and visually impaired, PACSO screenings (for children who would not normally go to a cinema), dementia-friendly screenings, as well as the Chichester International Film Festival. The cinema industry is in a constant state of change. Currently, we are seeing an increase in auditoria with high quality seating (some literally the size of beds),
Anita Roddick of the Body Shop, Principal Sponsor of the Film Festival. Regular attendee. Vice-president
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Walter Francisco, General Manager, charts the success over the decades of Chichester Cinema at New Park.
Mercia Last forms the ‘Friends of Chichester Cinema at New Park’
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SETTING THE SCENE Lecturer and journalist Ian Haydn Smith waits for the Gibson call. I usually receive the call in late spring. “Ian”, Roger Gibson begins. There’s a brief pause. “It’s that time of year again. Just sorting out the seasons for the Festival. I’ve got Ian Christie doing… and wondered if you would like to give a talk on…” Like Gregory Peck’s suspicion that the comedy roles he was offered only came to him after Cary Grant had turned them down, I always wonder if the talks that Roger offers me are ones that Professor Christie had chosen not to do. (Like Peck with Grant, however, to come second to Ian – an erudite, witty and engaging speaker – has never bothered me.)
Ellen Cheshire becomes Cinema’s first General Manager
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I can’t remember when I began giving talks at Chichester Film Festival and for the New Park Cinema and its excellent education programme. (Both of which are bolstered by a team of committed staff members and volunteers whose enthusiasm is boundless.) No other festival I’ve been involved with has offered me such a wide array of subjects to talk
on. It’s too easy with any film festival to play safe – crowd pleasers – but it’s more interesting to shake things up, to present a programme from a national cinema or lesserknown filmmaker, which challenges and delights. Roger’s ideas for festival talks have also been an opportunity for me to delve into other subjects. Favourite moments? Watching an audience rapt by excerpts from the films of the Greek director Theo Angelopoulos and the Iranian New Wave. And coming out of an early morning screening of ‘A Farewell to Arms’ to overhear a conversation between two elderly women discussing – in their words – the ‘erotic charm’ of Gary Cooper. That’s Chichester for you! Ian Haydn Smith is a film journalist and critic, Editor of Curzon Magazine. He also represents the British Council at film and arts events around the world, and is editor of the annually revised book ‘1001 Films to See Before You Die’. He has regularly hosted BAFTA events, as well as hosting and chairing discussions at the London Film Festival.
Roger Gibson receives Civic Award for his service to the Community and an Honorary MA from Chichester University College
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W H E N KAT H Y M E T M AG G I E They have worked on iconic and award-winning films including ‘Mamma Mia!’, ‘Withnail and I’, ‘Brazil’ and ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. Line producer and Cinema Trustee Kathy Sykes and set decorator Maggie Gray, who both live in Chichester, chat to Jane Weeks about their career and craft. How did you start in the film business? K: I was a secretary in the BBC Drama Plays Department and worked with producers such as Richard Eyre. I worked on Dennis Potter’s ‘Brimstone and Treacle’ produced by Kenith Trodd which the BBC refused to transmit. He decided to make it as an independent film and asked me to join him at Shepperton Studios. From there, I became a producer’s secretary on ‘The Missionary’ which was the first of many HandMade Films I was lucky enough to work on. M: I started in commercials, and my mentor was Norman Garwood. When he was invited to be the Production Designer on ‘The Missionary’, he asked me to join him. I worked with him on a number of pictures including ‘Brazil’, and he taught me a lot. What did you enjoy most about your job?
Mamma Mia
a week, it was your whole life and the team became like family. I also loved the travel – you could spend months doing a recce for a film. I once spent three weeks in Kenya searching for locations for ‘Being Human’, which starred Robin Williams. We finally made the film in Morocco and Robin Williams gave a show for us every night. He knew the names of all the crew – he was great to work with. Worst moment was when I found a black mamba snake in the property cupboard when we were filming in Africa! Who was your favourite director to work with? K: John Sayles, who worked as a script doctor on blockbusters to provide the income for him to write, produce, direct and edit his own films. We made a wonderful film, ‘The Secret of Roan Inish’, on the Donegal coast, about mythical Irish creatures called ‘selkies’, a creature half-seal, half-human. We had a seal and gull wrangler on set.
K: The feeling of being part of a creative group and all the preproduction work to bring the shoot together. The technical recces were special: all the heads of departments together travelling to the locations and trouble-shooting to make the film practically possible.
M: Terry Gilliam. He’s wonderfully creative and comes up with amazing ideas. He refused to change the ending of ‘Brazil’ to make it more upbeat and so, although it was Oscar-nominated for best screenplay and best production design, we knew it wouldn’t win. He was demanding as a director but great to work for.
M: The camaraderie – you worked from 7am to 9pm, sometimes seven days
Read the full conversation at www.chichestercinema.org
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THE
SMALLEST
SHOWON EARTH “Box office opens every day, except Christmas and Boxing Day” Could I have three tickets? Is the new brochure out yet? I was delayed in traffic, has the film started? Could I have the Volunteers’ rota? May I suggest a film to Roger Gibson? My son is desperate - can he use your toilet? Was a pair of black glasses handed in? That film is still so moving; I first watched it 34 years ago. I don’t have
my transaction number or debit card; where am I sitting? We don’t have to pay to use your car park? I have never been here before, is this a cinema? These biscuits are for you all. I could never afford to watch ‘La Traviata’ in London, so I came here. I used to go to school here. My husband died six months ago, but I want to renew my joint membership to support this cinema. We love New Park and never go anywhere else
to watch a film. These are my grandchildren. Your Student Gold scheme is awesome. We have brought 40 Year 8 children to your Education morning. We moved to Chichester because of you. This year’s film festival best ever. Henry Beltran, peopleperson extraordinaire, has been the Front of House Manager of Chichester Cinema at New Park since 2009.
READ ALL ABOUT IT! Female-led films outperform at the box office declares film writer and lecturer Ellen Cheshire As I write this, in December 2018, there has been a flurry of newspaper articles responding to a report ‘Female-led films outperform at the Box Office 2014-2017’. Published by Shift7, a digital focus on culture, they assessed the revenue of the 350 highest-grossing films released between 2014 and 2017 and concluded that films starring women earned more than male-led films. Read this revealing article on the truth about women in film at www.chichestercinema.org
Chichester Multiplex opens at Chichester Gate
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Thelma and Louise Walter Francisco joins the Cinema as Box Office Manager. Becomes General Manager in 2005
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HOW DO INDEPENDENT CINEMAS MATTER Richard Cupidi asks how in this era of streaming, do independent cinemas continue to matter? When it’s cheaper and faster to deliver a “film product” directly to your smartphone, why sustain the bricks and mortar of an independent cinema? And yet they still matter – hence the 40th anniversary of New Park Cinema. Reflecting on its importance, one of my students cited New Park as the prime reason she continues to live in Chichester. In this short essay, I’d like to suggest why indies matter and how we can help sustain their future.
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Unlike streaming, watching a film at the cinema (without distractions or interruptions) focuses our attention completely on the performance. It is an immersive experience – no tea First Baby Makes 2 screening
The UK is poised to celebrate the biggest year of cinema-going since 1971.’ Observer 16 Dec, 2018 breaks or tweets on the couch. As director Steve McQueen commented: “I didn’t make this [film] for an iPhone or a laptop, popping in and out of the fridge every five minutes. That audience experience can never be replicated anywhere else …that’s cinema.” Read his article at www.chichestercinema. org 20 06
At its heart, cinemagoing is an extraordinary foray into a darkened space with strangers, an invitation to collective experience, a sharing of emotional landscapes in a communal dreamtime. It is a tangible event, with heft and memory attached.
‘Cinemas have something that streaming can’t match. Even Netflix agrees’
British Cinema is popping its champagne corks with the news that 2018 was the best in five decades, audience numbers hitting 177 million. Richard Cupidi is a highly regarded contributor to the cinema’s Film Education programme. and runs adult education courses and day schools.
Retractable seating installed. Grand re-opening 20th July with ‘The Smallest Show on Earth’.
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THE
ROGER TERRIER Anyone who comes to our cinema feels the Gibson tour de film force.
Roger’s terrier-like tenacity to fight the Chichester Cinema at New Park corner is evident by the film choices over the past forty years. Now in tandem with Walter Francisco, the General Manager, film-goers see the evidence when browsing one of the six yearly programmes and any of the 27 Film Festival brochures. Over the decades Roger has sought out quality and diversity, his go-to whether dealing with distributors, producers, filmmakers and guest talent at home and abroad. His prodigious memory will catch you out should you venture a misplaced date or title! Even after years of giving, of gifting Chichester and the local area the best in world cinema and related events, Roger’s perseverance – and for the desire cinema to remain independent – remains undimmed.
The number of UK screens rose from 3,600 in 2007 to 4,500 in 2017.
We salute you, and may the force be with you! Carol Godsmark, PR Manager
June: installation of new Heating & Ventilation and state of the art DTS Digital Sound
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Roger Gibson and Ralph Fiennes (2015)
Smaller operations including Picturehouse, Curzon and Everyman, offering a high-end, arthouse experience, have flourished.
Ninian McGuffie (our resident film buff) joins the Box Office team
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A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP
“As well as the cinema we have another 65 regular hirers.” Alison MacDonald-Hughes, Centre Development Manager, New Park Centre. My first ever visit to New Park was to the Cinema to see ‘Dalai Lama
Renaissance,’ and meeting the Director, Khashyar Darvich in 2007. Little did I know then that I would return years later to join the Charity that manages the premises and facilities. I am thrilled that one of our oldest hirers are so successful and celebrating their Ruby Anniversary this year. Over the last 45 years, New Park Community & Arts Association has worked hard to build a vibrant community venue able to respond to local people’s needs. As well as the Cinema, we have another 65 regular hirers – last year we had 4,405 bookings. All the organisations and individuals that meet here offer such a wide range of social, cultural, recreational and welfare activities – so the Cinema’s presence New Park Centre is a wonderful fit. It means a great deal that so many groups and clubs stay with us over time and I hope that the Cinema has a bright future ahead!
Congratulations on 40 years of excellence! DISTRIBUTOR OF EUROPE’S GREAT OPERAS
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GUEST TALENT Actors, Directors, Producers, Writers and Critics who have visited Chichester Cinema and the Chichester International Film Festival (2010-2018) 2010 Billy King (Made in Dagenham) Nick Moran (The Kid & Telstar) Gordon Roddick (In the Land Of The Free & Brightwide) 2011 Michael Winner (One Man Show) Brock Van Den Bogaerde & John Coldstream (Dirk Bogarde Tribute)
Tony Britten (In Love with Alma Cogan)
Natalia Ivanova & Vera Glagoleva (Two Women)
Tristan Lorraine (Shady Lady)
Robert Mullen (We Will Sing)
Robert Mullen (Letters to Sofia and Gitel)
John Woolf (Park Lane Group & William Alwyn)
Philip French (Bad Day at Black Rock)
Michael Winterbottom & Andrew Eaton (Face of an Angel)
2014 Andrew Eaton (Michael Winterbottom Retro) Daniel Brühl (Rush)
2016 George Galloway (The Killing of Tony Blair)
Hannes Schule (Lauda)
Robert Marshall (The Avengers)
Elaine Paige & Kevin Short (Speed Love)
Asli Bayram (Shanghai Gypsy)
David Hare (The Browning Version)
Paul Forest, Andrew Martin (Capsule)
Tony Palmer (Dvorak In Love)
Tony Britten (ChickLit)
Laura Mulvey (Frida and Tina)
Michael Cowan (Night Train to Lisbon & Lauda)
2012 Derek Jacobi (Love is the Devil & Retro)
Andrew Sinclair (Under Milkwood)
Sarah Miles (Term of Trial) Lisl Russell (Tribute to Ken Russell)
Alistair Audsley & David Armstrong (Watchmaker’s Apprentice) David Shiel (David Jones)
Virginia Mckenna (Lewis Gilbert Retro)
2015 Carl Davis (On Chaplin)
2013 Kevin Brownlow (It Happened Here)
John Lithgow (Love is Strange)
Marcus Markov (Papadopoulos and Sons)
Martha Fiennes (Onegin) Ralph Fiennes (Two Women)
2017 Schubhashish Bhutiani (Hotel Salvation) Claire Martin (Jazz Vocalist - Tribute to Bobby Wellins) Mick Csaky (Retrospective) George Cookson (Stanley, Man of Variety) 2018 Steve Coogan & Andrew Eaton (Philomena & Trip to Italy) Various Guests (Bernstein In Chichester)
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TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE Huge community assets such as New Park couldn’t survive without their volunteers (and the same is true for other thriving local cultural institutions like Pallant House and the WEA and U3A and Chichester Jazz Club, to name just a few). Volunteers support the full and part-time staff in the day-to-day running and friendly welcome that characterises the cinemagoing experience for our customers and friends at New Park. But what does a volunteer do?
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Well, I have been a volunteer at the cinema for over ten years and give you picture of what is involved and what the benefits are to volunteer. Henry Beltran, our Front of House Manager, will induct you into the role, what’s involved, giving you a written description of the role too, and planning with you your first date ‘on duty’, paired with an experienced volunteer. You arrive half an hour before the time of the
film you have chosen to steward, let the Box Office know you have arrived, meet the other volunteer, sign in and check everything is ready and problem-free: the numbers coming to the screening; if there are ads and trailers; end time of the film; if the auditorium is tidy; if the film notes and torch are there. You’re now ready to advise customers when you take their tickets or check their online booking. And don’t forget to smile and ensure that coming to New Park is a pleasure for everyone. Your friendly and experienced volunteer partner will see you through your first go.
get a free cinema ticket. You also become part of a most valuable and passionate cinema team, meeting and becoming friends with a wide range of very interesting other volunteers. If you’re interested, contact Henry in the Box Office, and join me and others in enriching your own and our customers’ knowledge and love of world cinema, classic films and award winners, from ‘12 Years A Slave’ to ‘The Favourite’, ‘Jean de Florette’ to ‘Rome Open City.’ As Walter says in each new programme: “See you at the Cinema!” Mike Jennings
And the benefits? You join the audience and see the film when everyone is seated and the lights go down. What a great privilege! You can also help with proof-reading the new draft programme. Once printed, join other volunteers to stuffing the seasons’ programme into the 1000+ envelopes that go out to the Friends. For these good deeds you
First Open-Air Screening, Chichester Cathedral (High Society) to launch 17th Chichester International Film Festival
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But only Ten Years A Volunteer …! Mike Jennings is one happy vol.
Henry Beltran joins the Cinema as Front of House Manager
David Sin, Head of Cinemas, Independent Cinema Office, reveals the astonishing changes to cinemas over 40 years.
1979. The year of ‘The Deer Hunter’, ‘Mad Max’ and the first ‘Muppet Movie’. Cinema admissions in the UK are already approaching the bottom of a sharp decline and will hit an alltime low point within five years. The mass adoption of home video and the inability of cinema owners to redesign their service to compete has led to the closing down of many formerly grand local Picture Palaces, whilst others have been turned into bingo halls. Surviving commercial cinemas are twinned or tripled town centre venues, where you can stay all day with one ticket, with separate seats for smokers and non-smokers. Followers of ‘Art Cinema’ have to seek out the relatively new network of Regional Film Theatres supported by the British Film Institute to give audiences outside London a chance to experience the emerging film culture.
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Fast forward to 2019, and the cinema scene in the UK is almost unrecognisable from the rather shabby state of affairs of forty years ago. Cinema admissions in the UK in 2018 were 70% more than the total in 1979, and over two times the total at the
First ‘Mind for Movies’ Film Quiz at Minerva Brasserie, Chichester Festival Theatre
1984 nadir. There were over 800 feature films released into UK cinemas last year, a record high for some decades – that’s on average 16 new films released every weekend, from mainstream studio blockbusters, to British independents, foreign language art house films, popular films from India and Poland, documentaries, reissued classic films... and the list goes on. What these titles represent is a massive broadening of choice for UK cinema-goers in recent times. As we arrive in yet another new phase for cinema, with on-demand services such as Netflix sitting alongside cinema as the main way in which audiences now access film, it’s important that the independent cinema sector continues to develop a compelling vision that places audiences, programme diversity and the cinema space at the centre of cinema’s future. David Sin is Head of Cinema, Independent Cinema Office, the UK’s national body that supports independent cinemas, film festivals and exhibitors of all forms including Chichester Cinema at New Park. Continue reading about the changing market of cinemas from the turn of the century and a new phase for the independent sector: www.chichestercinema.org
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FROM ‘MAD MAX’ TO ‘MARY POPPINS RETURNS’
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Satellite receiver installed for live Performance events
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CREDIT IS DUE TO...
If you want to know where the Oscar favourite ‘The Favourite’ was filmed, you have to sit through over five minutes of credits to discover the locations (largely Hatfield House and Hampton Court), reports Education Department volunteer Brian Baker who delves into a few of the more down-to-earth jobs in film production.
Many other movies have vied for the honour. ‘Titanic’ lists 2,048 names for its closing credits and ‘Avatar’ 3,108. ‘Iron Man 3’ catalogues 3,708. Many exotic titles mention “Romanian Army liaison aide and food stylist” (both in ‘Cold Mountain’).
The use of closing credits in film to list complete cast, production crew and assorted hangerson was not firmly established until the 1970s. F. W. Murnau’s 1922’s ‘Nosferatu’ only mentions 16 people in its minute and a half credit sequence.
Key Grip: The boss or head of the grip department. A Best Boy is key grip’s righthand person. He or she will book crew and equipment rental. Dolly Grip: Tech department staff who move camera cranes and dollies, wheeled carts or similar device often raised onto a track to create smooth horizontal camera movements. Gaffer: Film Production electrical department head responsible for keeping the lights on, laying cables and following the director of photography’s safety regulations. He/she will also have a Best Boy
Ralph Fiennes closes the 24th Chichester International Film Festival
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Credit lists have grown over the years. ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ (1977) lists 151 credits, rising to the final 3 ‘Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ credits (over 2,000) lasting for over nine minutes including ‘wrangler manager’ and a ‘compositing inferno artist.’
Grips: Responsibility for all the equipment that supports cameras such as tripods, dollies, tracks, jibs, cranes, and static rigs.
as chief assistant and a Key Grip in charge of the labour and nonelectrical equipment used to support and modify the lighting. Focus Puller: Or First Assistant Camera, a member of a film crew’s camera department responsible for maintaining image sharpness on a subject or action being filmed.
First Drive-In screening (Casablanca) at Chichester Festival Theatre car park.
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laws relating to the protection of animals. A Child Wrangler: performs a similar function for juvenile members of the cast, managing child actors on a set, coaching them in acting and keeping them entertained when not required. A Python Wrangler: nothing to do with snakes, a jocular term for the utility sound technician who performs a variety of tasks in the Sound Department, most typically pulling cables!
Clapper Loader: Or Second Assistant Camera, loads the raw film stock into camera magazines, operating the clapperboard at the beginning of each take, marking the actors and maintaining records and paperwork for the camera department.
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Wrangler: Controls, instructs and cares for animals used in filming and ensures that the production abides by
ADR Supervisor: reviews the dialogue in the film to decide
New comfortable cinema seating installed, with new Heating and Ventilation
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West Side Story
The Foley Editor: works for the sound designer. Foley editors recreate the sounds that it wasn’t possible to pick up or create during filming. Among sound effects created off set: cellophane to create crackling fire effects, acorns, small apples and walnuts on wood for bone-breaking; canned dog food for alien pod embryo expulsions and monster vocalisations due to gushy sucking sounds!
whether lines need to be re-recorded. Tom Hardy, who portrayed Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, re-dubbed half of his own lines in this way for ease of viewer comprehension! Boom Operator: Or first assistant sound, responsible for utilising microphones on the end of boom poles held above actors’ heads during a scene to capture dialogue. To get microphones as close to the action as possible, without the equipment or its shadows showing up on camera. Stinger (not a job role): A surprising, last-minute bit of dialogue or footage, running gag or plotline appears after the closing credits e.g. in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, Matthew Broderick breaks the fourth wall and berates the audience: “You’re still here? It’s over! Go home. Go!” Is it worth sitting through interminable credits for the possibility of a stinger? Do I feel lucky? Well, do you? Brian Baker is an Education Department Team Member and cinema ticket-taker volunteer.
Chichester Cinema at New Park celebrates 40 Wonderful Years of Fabulous Film!
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To paraphrase the saying - “It takes a Village to raise a Child” - It takes a Community to create a Magazine to celebrate the cinema’s 40th anniversary. My thanks go to those who contributed freely and enthusiastically to these pages, their involvement much appreciated. Roger Gibson, Jo Gibson, Mark Bradshaw, Henry Beltran, Walter Francisco, Sue Gilson, Jane Weeks, Ellen Cheshire, Pat Bowman, Rod Fennell, Glyn Edmunds, Bob Connell, Tricia Sloane, John Coldstream, David Brown, Debbie Ford, Roger Harrison, Kathy Sykes, Maggie
Gray, Robert Wade, Michael Coveney, Peter Greenwood, Nick Smedley, Ian Haydn Smith, David Sin, Michael Holley, Derek Malcolm, Joseph Gilson, Don Boyd, Simon Martin, Kevin Ashman, Janie Foote, Alison MacDonaldHughes, Andrew Vance, Victoria Jones, Brian Baker, Mike Jennings and Richard Cupidi. My thanks go also to Katie Moody, designer, The Graphic Design House, and to Walter Francisco for his sterling guidance, skills and work on ‘Ruby Magazine’. Thank you too to our advertisers who made this publication possible. Carol Godsmark carol@carolgodsmark.co.uk
Chichester Cinema at New Park Ltd.
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