Future of Plymouth Arts Cinema

“The world gets bigger with each movie I watch at Plymouth Arts Cinema.” - PAC Audience Member

Who we are and what we aim to do

Plymouth Arts Cinema is a proudly independent cinema in the heart of Plymouth. Community is important to us and we believe cinema should be available to everyone. We are crowdfunding to help secure Plymouth Arts Cinema's future - the landscape of independent cinema is a rocky one at the moment and we need help to make our cinema a sustainable and affordable venue for our whole community.

We live in challenging times for independent cinema. Our organisation has been part of cultural life in Plymouth since 1947 but it is at risk. We are passionate about securing its future for years to come and we need your help to do that. Backing this Crowdfunder will help us to invest in vital upgrades to equipment and help us to continue to offer affordable tickets for everyone.

Plymouth Arts Cinema is a vital space in the city where people gather together to explore and debate ideas.

PAC is unique in Plymouth. We share films from around the world that you cannot see anywhere else, host talks with special guests from the film industry, support local filmmakers, run archive film screenings, Bringing in Baby Events, Relaxed and Inclusive Screenings. 

“Bringing in Baby has been the highlight of my maternity leave and I cannot recommend it highly enough if you are in need of a treat (which… let’s face it, you probably are!)” - PAC Audience Member

We work in partnership with many other cultural organisations, schools and colleges and we also work with lots of grass-roots organisations to host film events which raise awareness about the environment and climate change and issues facing our society today. 

We want our cinema to help face some of the biggest challenges of our time:

1) the cost-of-living crisis, by keeping cinema-going affordable to all. 

Cinema is one of the most easily accessible artforms. It allows windows into other worlds and new perspectives on a world we think we are familiar with. A truly independent cinema should show films which comfort us, challenge us, delight and surprise us. 

More than this though, cinema should be accessible to all, no matter what the barriers are. In the current cost-of-living crisis we recognise that it is getting harder for people to afford to see films in cinemas. Your support will help us to be able to continue to offer our low ticket prices to those most in need. We don’t want people to break the habit of coming to the cinema because they can’t afford it. We introduced a £4 Budget ticket in a trial period in the last quarter of 2022. We sold 242 tickets and welcomed 53 people to the cinema for the first time with this price. Plymouth Live named PAC as one of Plymouth’s kindest businesses for this initiative.

“I really appreciate the concession prices, otherwise I just wouldn’t be able to afford to see such a range of films. My son is studying film production at Uni and every time he comes down we book a film with you!” - PAC Audience Member 

It is widely proven that engagement with the arts alleviates anxiety, depression and stress, boosting feelings of wellbeing, and building communities. Everyone should be able to afford cinema tickets to benefit from this.

Here is a quote from our wonderful usher, Allen Pollock,

“I have been somewhat unwell of late but as I started as a volunteer way back in October 1978 I was determined to cover yesterday's matinee. Nearly capacity performance - a deluge of older people and just one smiley lad of about 16. The whole experience made me feel so much better and confirmed the fact that cinema-going can still be a wonderful way to spend an afternoon in a world fraught with hostility and sadness.”

2) climate change, by investing in our equipment to make it more energy efficient, supporting greener modes of transport to the cinema and continuing to raise awareness with the events we put on. 

Our projector and coffee machine are coming towards the end of their life. We need to invest in order to improve, maintain and even replace some of these things, and we want to do it sustainably, in more energy efficient ways. 

We want to be a sustainable, affordable venue which can continue to put audiences at the heart of everything it does. 

“Excellent way of connecting ideas through films. Loved that there was a workshop, film intro and a screening, all related to the subject. You really wouldn’t get this kind of cinema event happening anywhere else.” - PAC Audience Member

“I love the warm friendly welcome from the staff and volunteers, the comfort of the seats (as I’m disabled), the coffee and the amazing programming – we get to see some films we wouldn’t otherwise see.” - PAC Audience Member

By supporting this Crowdfunder you will:

• be helping us offer low-income tickets to all of those who need them
• be helping us invest in and renew more energy efficient equipment
• facilitate everyone to have the means to go to the cinema, make time for themselves and engage with others.
• be helping us reach new people in our community