Film / News
Totterdown’s historic Old Picture House bounces back with two screenings
Opened way back in 1913 during the silent movie boom, the Knowle Picture House was, rather confusingly, situated just off the Wells Road in Totterdown. The ornate, pillared building had been designed by the great Bristol-based cinema architect W.H. Watkins. It even boasted a grand fireplace in its huge foyer and a billiards room upstairs. But like so many cinemas, the Picture House suffered with the arrival of telly and eventually closed in 1961.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. Back in 2018, local musician Dave Merrick got permission from the building’s current owner to reopen it as the Old Picture House for occasional screenings and live music events. With community support, it soon began to thrive. Not even Covid can stop it now, as Dave has organised a brace of upcoming events.
First up on November 20 is a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club. Something of a box office flop on release back in 1984, this gangland tale set against the backdrop of the famous Harlem jazz club in the 1930s was warmly received by critics. It also offers a rare opportunity to see star Richard Gere parping away on his cornet. The Duke Ellington soundtrack is certain to delight jazz enthusiasts too. The screening will be preceded by a performance of classic early jazz and blues by Small Days (that’s Dave with Natalie Davis).
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Next in the diary is a Love Music Hate Racism event on December 9. This includes a screening of young British director Rubika Shah’s feature-length expansion of her acclaimed 2017 short film White Riot, which explores the origins of the 1970s Rock Against Racism movement. Decidedly lo-fi in its approach, this timely documentary reveals how a bunch of mostly white East London hippies formed the organisation in 1976 to fight back against the rampant right-wing extremism of the late seventies.
The Rock Against Racism office in the late 1970s, from ‘White Riot’. Pic: Ray Stevenson
“Our job,” says founder Red Saunders, “was to peel away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika.” White Riot charts the growth of Rock Against Racism, climaxing with the Carnival Against the Nazis in London’s Victoria Park, where acts such as The Clash, Steel Pulse and the Tom Robinson Band played to an audience of 100,000 people.
This event will also feature the book Babylon’s Burning: Music, Subcultures and Anti-Fascism in Britain 1958-2020 by Rick Blackman, copies of which will be available to purchase.
If you’re interested in attending either event, register your interest with Dave by emailing him at dmerr9226@aol.com.
Main pic: White Riot
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