Aberdeen's Belmont Filmhouse closes

The Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen has ceased trading after its parent charity called in adminstrators.

The Centre for the Moving Image also runs the Edinburgh Filmhouse and Cafe Bar, as well as the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The charity says admissions have only been half what they were before the pandemic, largely because of the growth of streaming services. It has also been hit by a rising energy costs as well as projected wages going up with inflation.

There has also been either a freeze or reduction in real terms in public funding in recent years.

The joint administrators will work with Aberdeen City Council and Creative Scotland to look at what options there are for supporting staff.

The board of the Centre for the Moving Image has issued the following statement:

“We have been proud to have led the CMI through incredibly challenging times, and in particular during the worst days of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the combination of sharply increasing energy and other costs, together with both the lasting impacts of the pandemic and the rapidly emerging cost of living crisis affecting cinema attendances, means that we have had no other option but to appoint administrators at this time.

“We would like to put on record our immense gratitude to the entire staff team whose passion for film as an artform and for the audiences and communities we work with and serve has remained undented by the challenges of recent years. We’re fully aware that this will be an exceptionally stressful time for them.”

Last month Cineworld, which runs two cinemas in Aberdeen, filed for bankruptcy protection in the US to give it more time to negotiate with creditors and restructure in the face of low audience numbers.

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