Newcastle Community Cinema invites audiences to step back in time and explore cinema’s enduring role in shaping culture and community. This special event bridges past and present, celebrating film as a shared social experience that has long brought people together.
Cinema historian Dr Sam Manning presents insights from The 1939 Diary of a Belfast Cinema-Goer — a remarkable record of 325 films seen in Belfast over a single year, on the eve of global conflict. In an era before streaming or social media, this anonymous film lover meticulously logged titles, devised a personal rating system, and mapped cinema visits across the city.
More than a list of films, the diary reveals cinema as a social compass, guiding leisure, conversation, and connection — from grand art-deco picture palaces to local suburban screens. Among the diarist’s favourites was Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938), the only British film to earn a coveted five-star rating.
Dr Manning brings this extraordinary artefact to life with images and commentary, followed by a screening of The Lady Vanishes as part of our Classics & Cake strand — an invitation to experience cinema as living history.
Tickets: £7.50 p.p. (incl. tea/coffee and a slice of cake)
Please contact us in advance with any special dietary requirements.
🎞️ 1938/ U/ 1h 37m /Thriller/Mystery