Save Filmhouse Cinema

Hello everyone,

Wednesday 7th December was the closing date for offers on the Filmhouse building at 88 Lothian Road. The deadline was high noon. We knew there would not be an instant result.

The timescale for raising funds was very short; fundraising for capital projects normally takes months or years.  With various donations from generous major donors, personal trusts and individuals, as well as the amazing Crowdfunder, we raised £764,000 in three weeks from a standing start. This is inspiring – but unfortunately it was not enough.  It’s thought that the minimum offer would have needed to be £1.5m. This is more than disappointing. Nevertheless, we cannot thank you all enough for offering your tremendous support to Filmhouse.

As well as being a significant element in the overall financial picture, this Crowdfunder demonstrated that there truly is a groundswell of support for reviving Filmhouse as a mission-driven cultural cinema with a strong educational remit. We’d like to thank Creative Scotland and City of Edinburgh Council for their support throughout this process.

Today there are rumours swirling around, so we wanted to update you all about our thoughts on the current situation. We think it is too soon to throw in the towel. Too much remains unknown and as long as there is a possibility of some accommodation being reached with a third party who also wants to save Filmhouse, we’d like to keep that option open. So we don’t want to close down the fundraiser until all avenues have been explored.

We hope you agree and can hang on a bit longer until there is greater certainty about the future of 88 Lothian Road.

Rod, Ginnie, David, Patti, James; and EFG – Phil and Jim