A Christmas Film Festival with Enchanted Cinema

What could be nicer at this time of year than snuggling up in front of a Christmas movie??  Well, you can do just that at Enchanted Cinema’s Christmas Film Festival which is happening at The Robinson Theatre at Hills Road Sixth Form College this Saturday, 16 December.

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Image credit: Enchanted Cinema

The day starts at 10am with Disney’s “Frozen”, after which a real Elsa will be visiting to sing and chat with her young fans.  At 1pm, there’s an autism friendly screening of “The Polar Express”, so it’ll offer a relaxed environment with light levels slightly higher than normal and sound levels slightly lower.  Then you can sit back and enjoy the antics of everybody’s favourite hapless singleton in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” at 4pm.  And finally, at 7pm you can laugh and cry at Richard Curtis’s Christmas classic, “Love Actually”.  That lobster costume gets me every time!!

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Image credit: Enchanted Cinema

Cambridge residents may be familiar with Enchanted Cinema’s summer outdoor screenings, complete with deckchairs, headphones and street food, at locations in and around the city.  Ellen Downes and Will Morrish set up the business in 2015, initially for small social events.  Now they bring an enhanced cinema experience to weddings, parties and corporate events with live music, food, decor and lighting alongside the film screening.

For this event, The Robinson Theatre will be transformed into a cosy, festive space and, as well as live music between films, there’ll be a pop up café running all day next to the theatre, serving hot drinks, mulled wine, cakes and brownies, much of which has been given by local businesses.  The mince pies are being donated by Radmore Farm Shop, which I wrote about here on the blog in November.

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Image credit: EACH

This Festival is a fundraiser for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices which provide care and support for children and young people with life-threatening illnesses as well as end of life care for dying children and their families.  All profits from this event will go to the hospice in Milton where, very sadly, Ellen’s sister passed away in May this year.  Ellen and her family are so thankful for all the support and care they received from the EACH team over the years and they are raising funds to help ensure that the wonderful work of the hospice continues with other children and families.

Tickets for the Festival are bookable through Enchanted Cinema’s website where you can also buy tickets for their prize draw, which offers loads of awesome prizes.  So go on, take a break from the yuletide prep, head for Hills Road, grab a mince pie and settle back to enjoy some Christmas magic from Enchanted Cinema.

www.enchantedcinema.co.uk

Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge CB2 8PE

 

Cambridge Film Festival

With more than a hundred screenings over eight days, the 37th Cambridge Film Festival truly offers something to interest everyone.  Programmers have sourced fresh material at international film festivals and have sifted through a wealth of submissions to bring a varied and full line-up of films and events to the city from 19 – 26 October.

The schedule includes UK premieres, retrospectives, documentaries, discovery titles from across the world, family favourites and late night screenings of cult movies.

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Image by Cambridge Film Festival

The Festival’s main venue is the Arts Picturehouse Cinema in St Andrew’s Street with screenings also being held at Emmanuel College, just opposite.  The Heong Gallery at Downing College in Regent Street will host a free Microcinema programme, organised around the theme of “Archive and Memory” and  encompassing both contemporary and historical work.  Cinemobile, the Picturehouse travelling cinema lorry which tranforms into a hundred seater, air conditioned venue, will be stationed on Parker’s Piece and will showcase the work of local film makers.

Cambridge Film Trust, a charity founded to promote film culture in the East of England, runs this event under the leadership of Festival Director, Tony Jones.  His team is supported by a band of volunteers who work four hour shifts in a variety of roles and who are rewarded with complimentary tickets to screenings.  For more information and to apply to be a volunteer, check out the “Get Involved” page of the Festival website.

The full film programme will be announced in late September with details of screenings and events updated on the Festival website.  You can book through Arts Picturehouse online, by telephone or in person when tickets go on sale in early October.

http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk

http://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Arts_Picturehouse_Cambridge

38 – 39 St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge CB2 3AR