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In an age of multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-twaddle TV, @AnnaJCowen and I found ourselves on Saturday night… without any digital signal.

Whoops.

Our first weekend in Wivenhoe, and whaddya know – the Moving Image Cinema was only showing a film down the road at the Phillip Road Centre.

Hurrah!

The campaign to bring an independent cinema to Wivenhoe has reached fruition this autumn with weekly screenings at Phillip Road and the nearby Lakeside Theatre on campus. The plan remains to establish a permanent home for the project, but in the meantime, the projector is running and the punters are coming in.

A retro neon Cinema sign guided film lovers down the Phillip Road entrance, and then once inside, an old style kiosk housing a singular assistance greeted the attendees.

If you’re looking for a West End cinematic experience then you won’t find it in Wivenhoe – and thank heavens for that. For an annual membership of just £5, members get to enjoy a weekly film for only £3 per screening. Non-members pay an extra pound.

Once inside the hall and the temptation to walk past the ice cream on sale got the better of us. £1.50 for a tub of local (ish) Suffolk Meadow butterscotch – beautiful.

The seats were adequate, but not exactly reclining. A showing of the complete Star Trek series of films may prove a bit much on the backside, but thankfully I don’t think such a season of films is going to make its way down to Wivenhoe.

On offer on Saturday night was Micmacs, a French film all about subversion and revenge. A few early teething problems with the projection, but once we were underway, the audience seemed to appreciate the oddball humour.

The sound and picture quality inside Phillip Road was perfect. This may become different during the summer months, but for now, at least Wivenhoe has somewhere credible to screen weekly films at an affordable price in the community.

With the film finished, then the conversation started. You are watching the film as part of a group, and not in isolation. You can’t leave a film without an opinion – any opinion – and the natural instinct is to share your views. Tres bien seemed to be the consensus on Saturday night.

Kick Ass is up for grabs next weekend, with a more art house approach to the scheduling of films over at the Lakeside Theatre. Our own internal TV woes in Wivenhoe look set to continue for sometime, which given the availability of Moving Image, may not be such a bad thing.