Open air cinema screens in London

Shortened link for this post is http://is.gd/cDTFo

2012 information will be placed on this new Google site when I have it.
Sundance Festival took place at O2 in April
Pop Up Screens has announced its 2012 schedule (1 May 2012)

A-Z of films showing in London (LondonNet)
A-Z cinema screens in London (LondonNet)

January-May 2012 - having realised that this great long blog post is only going to get longer and longer as I add new stuff (I am loath to throw away the old information) I decided not to add any more to this page but instead to create a whole new Google Site devoted to Open Air Cinema Screens and to which I am gradually migrating this information. I'll keep this page as a fossil, hopefully someone will find something useful here anyway, and find their way to the new site.

June 2011 - see also Time Out's listings http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1120/open-air-movies-in-london-2011 - they have some venues that I haven't got here, but I want to capture all of those and the individual films / dates.

April 2010 (blog updated in June 2011)

It's about this time of year that I start to get anticipatory excitement for the prospect of open air cinema in London, which actually happens in late summer but I get enthusiastic about it now.

I've seen memorable performances of Ferris Bueller's Day Off in Greenwich Park, The Night of the Hunter (or watch embedded video below) at Somerset House and The Wicker Man and Rebecca at Scoop: More London. Some screens show not films but live feeds from theatre and opera.

A while back I created a Facebook group in the hope of shepherding the information into one place "Open Air Cinema london" and I'm always on the lookout for more venues. Press 'play' and enjoy the eerie soundtrack while you browse our film selections :-)

1. 2011 (current screenings)
2. What to pack
3. Locations which host (or have hosted) outdoor screens
4. 2010 (historical)
5. 2009 and previous (historical)
6. Indoor Cinemas (including mainstream / multiplexes)
7. Independent cinemas
8. Edits and acknowledgements

0. London 2012Obviously we're not there yet but best to think ahead, eh :)
News of special London 2012 film screenings coming nearer the time...
1. 2011 :: 2011 :: 2011

(to be filled with lots of lovely screening information when I hear about it)

By location

To be added to the list, and their films listed (taken from Time Out)

1. Drive-In Movie Experience - North Weald Airfield
2. Floating Cinema
3. Midsummer Night Screen - Dalston Roof Park
4. Rooftop Film Club
5. Queen of Hoxton
6. Picnic Film

• Blackheath - not open air but in a tent at Zippo's Circus
• Lost Boys, Zippos Circus, Blackheath, Tue 26 April 2011, 7.30pm (via me) from Nomad
• Dulwich Park - Screen on the Green
  Possibly not happening in the same format as in previous years because Screen on the Green has become The Nomad, in partnership with the Lexi Cinema. They are showing Casablanca though - see below in the 'by company' section.
• Eltham Park - Well Hall Pleasaunce / Tudor Barn - see comments :-)
• Folly for a Flyover - built from wooden bricks, under A12 flyover in Hackney (Hackney Wick). Series of films and shorts, more information here on their events page and see below. This is from the same people (Assemble CIC) who brought us Cineroleum.
• Great British Summer 2011 at Victoria, Bankside and Holborn (see below). They're on Twitter too https://twitter.com/GreatBritSummer
• Hackney see Folly for a Flyover
• Hammersmith (Ravenscourt Park) with PopUp Screens - 7pm
  
  • Friday 27 May 2011 - Anchorman
  • Saturday 28 May 2011 - The Big Lebowski
  • Sunday 29 May 2011 - Ghostbusters
• Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square - large screens will be showing the Royal Wedding on 29 April 2011 at 11am (I'd have picked 3pm myself).
• Holborn, New Street Square, Chancery Lane - see Great British Summer 2011
• Scoop, More London (between Tower Bridge and London Bridge)
  Enjoy open air free film screenings every Wednesday – Friday from 14 – 30 September. The Scoop at More London, the riverside amphitheatre, will screen an eclectic mix of classic, cult and contemporary films rarely shown elsewhere. Screenings will start at 7.30pm.
• • Alice in Wonderland, Wednesday 14 September
  • The Kings Speech, Thursday 15 September
  • Dirty Dancing, Friday 16 September
  • The Illusionist, Wednesday 21 September
  • The Social Network "– can't guarantee availability. List as "Surprise film"" (they don't sound too confident!), Thursday 22 September
  • The African Queen, Friday 23 September
  • The Manchurian Candidate, Wednesday 28 September
  • Grease, Thursday 29 September
  • True Grit, Friday 30 September

• Somerset House - see below
• Southbank, Bankside Mix - see Great British Summer 2011
• Syon Park: Cinema under the stars (18-21 August 2011) More details to follow.
• Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park - Royal Wedding on 29 April 2011 at 11am.
• Walthamstow (& UK locations): 12 April 2011 - 7.07am and 12 noon BBC Screens are showing ‘First Orbit’ is a feature length film by Chris Riley that weaves historic audio recordings of the first Cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, with new footage of his orbital route. The film will be shown at 07.07 BST, the exact time of Gagarin’s launch in 1961, and again at 12:30 on the Big Screens in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Dover, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Swansea, Swindon and Walthamstow.
• Victoria, Cardinal Place, Victoria Street- see Great British Summer 2011. Hosting screenings of Wimbledon (the actual tennis, not the film) and films (movies) throughout July including Notting Hill and Grease.
• By the way if you're reading this on a website that says anything other than brodiesnotes in the URL then there's a very high chance that the content has been stolen from this blog and I'd certainly appreciate hearing about it. The most likely candidate is an American site with various different websites under the banner Open Air Cinema - I've had to ask them four times to remove copy/pasted versions of this text. I will be delighted and amused if this text makes it into any future content pinchings :)

By company

Folly for a Flyover

• Friday 24^th June ONCE UPON A TIME, IN A FOLLY FAR FAR AWAY...feat. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937
• Saturday 25^th June THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED with LIVE SOUNDTRACK BY SAWCHESTRA
• Sunday 26^th June THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
• Friday 1^st July MIDDLE OF THE ROAD feat. LIVE PERFORMANCE FROM PEGGY SUE
• Saturday 2^nd July THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS
• Sunday 3^rd July REQUIEM FOR DETROIT
• Friday 8^th July TRON + LIVE SCORE
• Saturday 9^th July TRIP TO THE MOON AND OTHER SHORTS + Live Score
• Sunday 10^th July SECRET SCREENING
• Friday 15^th July FLASH GORDON
• Saturday 16^th July MINNIE THE MOOCHER + GERTIE AND HER GAIETY
• Sunday 17^th July TOY STORY + BICYCLE THIEVES
• Friday 22^nd July AKIRA
• Saturday 23^rd July 2001 : A SPACE ODYSSEY
• Sunday 24^th July WIZARD OF OZ
• Friday 29^th July HACKNEY WICKED PRESENTS VIDEO AND SHORT FILMS
• Saturday 30^th July THE WILD ONE
• Sunday 31^st July A FEW DOLLARS

Great British Summer 2011 happening over three venues

Cardinal Place - Victoria

• end of June - early July - tennis will be screened, then
• Monday, July 4, 2011 - 7PM: Notting Hill
• Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 7PM: The Social Network
• Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - 7PM: Grease
• Thursday, July 7, 2011 - 7PM: Winning comedy film as voted for by you!
  The choices are: Step Brothers, Meet the Fockers, Anchorman, Dumb and Dumber, Arthur

Bankside Mix, Southbank, Southwark

• end of June, early July - tennis
• Monday, July 4, 2011 - 7PM: Grease
• Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 7PM: Notting Hill
• Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - 7PM: The Social Network
• Thursday, July 7, 2011 - 7PM: Comedy Night: Winning comedy film as voted for by you! (choices as before)

New Street Square, Chancery Lane, Holborn

• end of June, early July - tennis
• Monday, July 4, 2011 - 7PM: The Social Network
• Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 7PM: Grease
• Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - 7PM: Notting Hill
• Thursday, July 7, 2011 - 7PM: Comedy Night: Winning comedy film as voted for by you! (choices as before)

The Nomad - @thenomadcinema

• The Wizard of Oz - Zippos Circus - Stevenage - 13 March 2011
• The Lost Boys - Zippos Circus - Oxford - 27 March 2011
• Strictly Ballroom (Finsbury Park) - 3 April 2011 - tent
• Lost Boys (Blackheath, Zippo's Circus) - 26 April 2011 - tent
• Fight Club - Bethnal Green - 20 May 2011 - tent
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - Mile End - Zippo's Circus - 22 May 2011
• Casablanca - Dulwich Park - 28 May 2011 - open air
• Mamma Mia! - Lympne Castle - Kent - 3 August 2011 - open air
• Little Miss Sunshine - Battersea Park - London - 3 August 2011, 8.45pm
• Mamma Mia! - Hall Place - Bexley - 4 August 2011 - open air
• The Third Man - Battersea Park - London - 10 August 2011, 8.45pm
• Jurassic Park - Hall Place - Bexley - 11 August 2011 - open air - h/t @popupscreens
• Labyrinth - Battersea Park - London - 17 August 2011, 8.30pm
• Some Like it Hot - Opera Holland Park - 19 August 2011 - open air I think
• The Empire Strikes Back - Opera Holland Park - 20 August 2011 - open air I think
• Cinema Paradiso - Opera Holland Park - 21 August 2011 - open air I think
• North by Northwest - Gatton Park - Reigate - 22 August 2011
• Sense and Sensibility - Gatton Park - Reigate - 23 August 2011
• Some Like it Hot - Leeds Castle - Kent, 26 Aug
• Raiders of the Lost Ark - Lympne Castle - Kent - 31 August 2011 - open air
• Dangerous Liaisons - Fulham Palace - London - 9 September 2011
• The Omen - Fulham Palace - London - 16 September 201
• Some Like it Hot - Fulham Palace - London - 23 September 2011
• Sound of Music - Danson House - Bexleyheath - 18 September 2011 - open air
• Pride and Prejudice - Danson House - Bexleyheath - 25 September 2011 - open air

Pop Up Screens - @popupscreens - showing at Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith

• Anchorman - Friday 27 May 2011
• The Big Lebowski - Saturday 28 May 2011
• Ghostbusters - Sunday 29 May 2011

Somerset House - Tickets go on sale to the public on Thurdsay 9 June 2011
So irked am I by being kept on hold (in the hope that I can buy tickets for more than one event and combine booking fees and arrange to collect rather than pay to have them posted...) that I've decided to promote a rival card. The event is being sponsored by AmericanExpress but in a fit of retaliatory mean-ness I'm giving the free advert to Visa cards.

27 July 2011, Wednesday
Pedro Almodovar's the Skin I Live In Uk Premiere (Cert TBC)
21.15 pm

28 July 2011, Thursday
Behind the Screen - John Barry's Golden Touch
19:00pm

28 July 2011, Thursday
The Spy Who Loved Me (PG)
21:15 pm

29 July 2011, Friday
Behind the Screen - BAFTA Shorts
19:00 pm

29 July 2011, Friday
The Big Blue (15)
21:15 pm

30 July 2011, Saturday
Behind the Screen - Joe Cornish in Conversation
19:00 pm

30 July 2011, Saturday
Die Hard (18)/ Attack the Block (15)
21:15 pm

31 July 2011, Sunday
Behind the Screen - Wild about Wilder
19:00 pm

31 July 2011, Sunday
The Apartment (PG)
21:15 pm

1 August 2011, Monday
Behind the Screen - Kick Ass Women on Screen
19:00 pm

1 August 2011, Monday
Thelma and Louise (15)
21:15 pm

2 August 2011, Tuesday
Behind the Screen - Polanski and the Writers
19:00 pm

2 August 2011, Tuesday
Chinatown (15)
21:15 pm

3 August 2011, Wednesday
Behind the Screen - Dressed by Design
19:00 pm

3 August 2011, Wednesday
In the Mood for Love (PG)
21:15 pm

4 August 2011, Thursday
Behind the Screen - Playing Games with Cinema
19:00 pm

4 August 2011, Thursday
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (12A)
21:15 pm

5 August 2011, Friday
Behind the Screen - The Influence of The Actors Studio
19:00 pm

5 August 2011, Friday
Serpico (18)/ Shaft (15)
21:15 pm

6 August 2011, Saturday
Behind the Screen - Creature Features
19:00 pm

6 August 2011, Saturday
Gremlins (15)/ Troll Hunter (TBC)/ Tremors (15)
21:15 pm

7 August 2011, Sunday
The Princess Bride (PG)
21:15

2. What to pack

• Something warm to wear (even if it's boiling hot in the day it can be cool sitting outside at 10pm)
• Something to sit on (plastic bag as a minimum, blanket or cushion better)
• Something to avoid rain (umbrellas are generally a bit of a no-no, recommend rain hat or one of those 'pac a mac' things)
• Something to eat and drink and something to eat it off / drink it out of (most films are in public spaces so you can bring your own picnic, check though as Syon Park mightn't)
• A plastic bag to take away rubbish / sitting on grass.
• Loo roll (public toilets being as they are...)

3. Locations which host (or have hosted) outdoor screens

• Alexandra Palace - RAC Drive-in Movies (bit daft, encourages ppl to drive to venue!)
• BBC London's Big Screens (Walthamstow and Woolwich)
• BP Summer Screen (Twitter) - these have been found at various sites, such as Canary Wharf, beaming live theatre and opera from the Royal Opera House.
• Brixton - Grand Union Bar, Thursday screenings in beer garden
• Canary Wharf: BP Summer Screen (Twitter) - usually opera
• Greenwich Park: Stella Screen - seems to have been a 2006 one off
• Cineroleum - 100 Clerkenwell Road
• Chelmsford Borough
• Dulwich Park, SE21, Screen on the Green
• Floating Cinema, Thames / canals (Olympic area 2011)
• Dulwich Picture House
• Hammersmith, Ravenscourt Park - see 2011 listings for Pop Up Screens.
• Harrow, Film on the Hill - looks like it was a 2009 one-off
• Horniman Museum, SE23, Screen on the Green
• Lady in Red Productions: Cinema under the stars (Syon Park, Brentford)
• The Old Truman Brewery
• Portobello Pop Up - digital microplex (?) cinema. More deets from Londonist (2010).
• Queens Park, NW6, Screen on the Green in association with The Lexi Cinema
• Regent's Street: Sky Classic Film Nights
• Roundwood Park, NW10, Screen on the Green in association with The Lexi Cinema
• Royal Opera House - in association with BP Big Screens (see aboveoperatic shriekings are screened in various locations around London including Canary Wharf and Trafalgar Square.
• Scoop (amphitheatre): More London
• Serpentine Gallery: Moon and stars park night (2008)
• Shoreditch Festival
• Somerset House
• Starlite Urban Drive in at The Truman Brewery
• Syon Park
• Trafalgar Square: BFI festival, BP Summer Screen (Twitter)
• Walthamstow Town Square (in Waltham Forest) and General Gordon Square (in Woolwich): London Big Screens, BBC - these seem to show only opera and ballet rather than films.
• Wapping Project - Moonshine Cinema (2010)
• Watch this Space - something to do with BFI and National Theatre, details murky (see below)
• Victoria: Britannia, pub garden at Victoria Park (2009)

4. 2010 :: 2010 :: 2010

1. Scoop: More London: http://www.morelondon.co.uk/events_details.asp?ID=73
   
   • Up in the Air (Wednesday 15 September)
   • The Kite runner (Thursday 16 September)
   • The Bourne Ultimatum (Friday 17 September)
   • The Hurt Locker (Wednesday 22 September)
   • North by Northwest (Thursday 23 September)
   • Pretty Woman (Friday 24 September)
   • Invictus (Wednesday 29 September)
   • Up (Thursday 30 September)
   • Dirty Dancing (Friday 1 October)


2. Shoreditch Festival: http://www.shoreditchfestival.org.uk/
   
   • 17 July Saturday: Big Screen - 1pm Shoreditch shorts JNR 3pm Shoreditch Shorts 5pm 'Playing House' with Buster Keaton


3. Somerset House: http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/film/default.asp
   
   • Knight and Day (29 July Thur)
   • Kill Bill vol 1 / Enter the Dragon (30 July Fri)
   • Team America: World Police / A Town Called Panic (31 July Sat)
   • Manhattan (1 August Sun)
   • Goldfinger (2 August Mon)
   • Black Narcissus (3 August Tue)
   • Kubrick's Paths of Glory (4 August Wed)
   • Cabaret (5 August Thursday)
   • Mulholland Drive (6 August Fri)
   • Let the Right One In / The Lost boys (7 August Sat)
   • Master and Commander (8 August Sun) There are also some 'behind the screen' discussion events.


4. Syon Park: http://www.lady-in-red.co.uk/syonpark.aspx
   
   • Dirty Dancing (18 August Wednesday)
   • Wolfman (19 August Thursday)
   • Top Gun (20 August Friday)
   • Up (21 August Saturday)
   • Pretty Woman (22 August Sunday)


5. Watch this Space: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/wts
   
   • Look for 'download brochure' in the left hand menu. "The BFI looks after the world’s largest and most significant collection of film and TV. As the Archive celebrates its 75th anniversary this summer, we are delighted to present films from the collection, projected onto the Flytower each Friday in July. For details of the extensive programme of films from the Archive at BFI Southbank in July and August visit http://bfi.org.uk/"
   Apparently films are to be projected on the Flytower but I've found no evidence of this on the BFI's website (the BFI link given above is just their homepage, not an information page) so check before you go.


6. BP Summer Screen - http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9026066&contentId=7048077
   
   • Carmen, The Royal Opera (Tuesday 8 June) - Trafalgar Square, London; Duthie Park, Aberdeen; Millennium Square, Bristol; Market Place, Derby; Market Square, Dover; Clayton Square, Liverpool; Exchange Square, Manchester; Centre Square, Middlesbrough; Chapelfield Plain, Norwich; The Piazza, Plymouth; BP ICBT, Sunbury; Castle Square, Swansea; Wharf Green, Swindon; Walthamstow Town Square, Waltham Forest
   • Chroma, Tryst, Symphony in C, The Royal Ballet (Thursday 10 June) - Trafalgar Square, London; Exchange Square, Manchester; General Gordon Place, Woolwich; Stratford Park, Newham.
   • Simon Boccanegro, The Royal Opera (Tuesday 13 July, 7.30pm) - Trafalgar Square, London; Canary Wharf, London; Millennium Square, Bristol; Christchurch Park, Ipswich; Centenary Square, Bradford; Humberstone Gate, Leicester; Exchange Square, Manchester; The Piazza, Plymouth; Guildhall Square, Portsmouth


7. Dulwich Picture House - Hairspray in the garden (30 August 2010, 6.30pm) - programme includes free hairstyling and an opportunity to learn the dances (!)


8. Starlite Urban Drive in at The Truman Brewery
   
   • Dirty Dancing (was Twilight) - Friday 2 July, doors 7pm, screening @ sunset, 9.20pm
   • Grease - Saturday 3 July, doors 7pm, screening @ sunset, 9.20pm


9. Cineroleum - 100 Clerkenwell Road - films
• Friday 20th August: Rebel Without a Cause (SOLD OUT)
• Saturday 21st August: Barbarella (SOLD OUT)
• Sunday 22nd August: D.O.A. (SOLD OUT)
• Thursday 26th August: Buster Keaton Shorts
• Friday 27th August: Duel
• Saturday 28th August: Alphaville
• Sunday 29th August: The Long Goodbye
• Thursday 2nd September: The Band Wagon (Tickets on sale 26th August)
• Friday 3rd September: Night of The Living Dead (Tickets on sale 26th August)
• Saturday 4th September: B Movie Night (Tickets on sale 26th August)
• Sunday 5th September: M (Tickets on sale 26th August)
• Thursday 9th September: Delicatessen (Tickets on sale 2nd September)
• Friday 10th September: Badlands (Tickets on sale 2nd September)
• Saturday 11th September: Metropolis (Tickets on sale 2nd September)
• Sunday 12th September: The Third Man (Tickets on sale 2nd September)


10. Chelmsford Borough is showing Dirty Dancing (17 September 2010) and War of the Worlds (18 September 2o10)

5. 2009 :: 2009 :: 2009 and before
I only started collecting info in 2010 so this is a bit retrospective.

• Amelie - screened on Rugby Street, WC1 27 August 2009. Bit gutted I missed this - pics.
• A blog post with a range of open air screening highlights - last updated in 2010, from the people behind now-defunct Pyjama Pictures
• Blow Up - screened in Maryon Park, Charlton 25 July 2009, 10pm - Greenwich Film Festival 2009
• Railway Children - screened in Well Hall Pleasaunce 24 July 2009, 9.30pm - Greenwich Film Festival 2009
• Kill Bill - screened at Stella Screen, in Greenwich Park 2006
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off - screened at Stella Screen, in Greenwich Park 2006
• Spirited Away - FilmFour & Somerset House, 18 August 2005

6. Indoor (including mainstream / multiplexes)
Section added on 12 September 2010
The outdoor season at Scoop More London is just about to start but the nights are drawing in and soon a cinema indoors might seem like a good idea.

• LondonNet has good listing for A-Z cinema screens in London
• A-Z of films showing in London.

7. Independent cinemas

• Birkbeck Cinema has its own film society - I saw The Conversation there. The society's March 2011 listings are here.
• The Horse Hospital occasionally has film showings, and other oddities Secret Cinema...

8. Edits and acknowledgements
EDIT: 21 August 2010 Saturday
Minor edit, addition of 'Cineroleum' following a tip off from @steinsky

EDIT: 12 September 2010 Sunday
Minor edit, addition of Chelmsford's showing of Dirty Dancing & War of the Worlds after a tweet from @moogyboobles, also addition of an indoor section for cinemas at the end.

@marthasadie has suggested The Screen on the Green for screen hire if you want to 'make your own' (which I do, as it happens - who'd love to see Jurassic Park on Blackheath?!). EDIT: Jurassic Park is being shown in 2011 by Nomad cinemas, see above.
If you know of an open air, or other quirky cinema screens - mostly in London - let me know, ta @JoBrodie or jo.brodie @@ gmail.com

Useful resources

• Moonlight Movies from Visit London Blog
• Useful information from ViewLondon on outdoor film events, from which some of the links posted here were pinched.

Keywords: "open air", cinema, film, films, movies, open-air, open air cinema, outdoor cinema, london, outdoor cinema, screens, scoop,