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The glutton of Christmas TV films has yet to transform us into armchair Empire Strikes Back aficionados (um, bring it on…) but already Moving Image is looking ahead to a promising year in providing a community based cinema for Wivenhoe.

A bit like the Scottish Premier League, Moving Image decided to take a min-winter break. I think that this is a hyperlocal euphemism for enjoying Christmas and taking an incredibly well earned rest.

But the calendar for an independent community run cinema keeps on ticking by. Before you know it and it will be 7th Jan, the Philip Road Centre grand black out curtain will be in place, local ice cream will be on sale and One Day will be screened.

Moving Image has announced the run of films for the first few weeks of the new season. The Empire Strikes Back doesn’t feature. Instead, Wivenhoe film lovers can sit back in the splendour of the Philip Road Centre and enjoy:

7th January, One Day

14th January, The Skin I Live In

21st January, The Guard

28th January, Black Pond

29th January, Arrietty

All films start at 8pm prompt, apart from Arrietty, which is a matinee screening. As ever, it’s a creative schedule. Black Pond in particular looks intriguing. The Guardian described it as:

“A deeply eccentric, haunting marvel… If Syd Barrett had ever written and directed a movie, it might well have looked like this.”

The good folk of Moving Image actually wrote to the Director, Tom Kingsley, enquiring about the possibility of screening Black Pond in Wivenhoe. Tom took a look at the Moving Image website and apparently was so impressed with the concept of a hyperlocal community cinema, permission was granted. Local support on the 28th January would be particularly appreciated.

Jenny O’s dance exams [!] take precedent at the Philip Road Centre in February. That’s not something that the fancy Dan’s of the film world at Leicester Square have to contend with. Moving Image then has another run of films lined up for early spring, including Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Drive, We Need to Talk about Kevin, The Ides of March, Wuthering Heights and The Deep Blue Sea.

Which should take us around to Easter time. Betcha BBC1 will be showing The Empire bloody Strikes Back…