Film / News
Gromit assists Curzon’s roof appeal with new trailer
If you’ve ever been there, you don’t need us to tell you about the joys of Clevedon’s historic Curzon community cinema. It flung open its doors way back in 1912, just after the RMS Titanic went down. In fact, the cinema’s very first screening was a special charity matinee for families of victims of the disaster. But now, alas, the Curzon itself has sprung a leak.
Rainwater has been trickling in and damaging the building for several years, mostly away from publicly accessible areas. Matters came to a head in December 2018, when the main auditorium was affected. The ornate tin panelling which reaches throughout the building and is the earliest and most complete example known to survive in England, is rusting and deteriorating. Cinema staff and volunteers are concerned for the safety of their collection of 500 cinematic artefacts, some of which are exceptionally rare. Now the charity that runs the cinema has launched a public appeal to secure future of the cinema with a full roof restoration.
The Curzon has been serving the local community for more than a century
Fortunately, plenty of big names love the grand old place, including Aardman founders David Sproxton and Peter Lord, who are both Curzon Patrons. Together with Nick Park, they’re helping to promote the appeal with a new trailer adapted from the studio’s evergreen, award-winning The Wrong Trousers.
is needed now More than ever
“We are incredibly grateful to Aardman Animations for their support,” says Fundraising Campaign Manager Karen Edgington. “This trailer is really quite unique and not the usual way a historic arts building would promote fundraising efforts. When Nick Park first saw it, he said ‘How funny!’ and many of the Aardman team have said they’ve ‘chuckled’ and ‘loved’ seeing Gromit in a completely different context.”
The Curzon auditorium today
The new trailer will be shown every day at the cinema to encourage punters to give generously. There will also be bucket collections at the Curzon’s three outdoor screenings in September. See our comprehensive outdoor cinema guide for details of these.
How the Curzon looked in pre-leaky olden days
The target is to raise more than £100,000 from the local community and businesses by the end of the year. £26,500 has been raised since the appeal launched at the end of April. The full roof restoration will cost in excess of £500,000. A bid also has been submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for £240,000, the result of which will be known in early September.
Read more: Curzon shortlisted for Cinema of the Year
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