World Cinema in Ipswich

World Cinema Returns to Ipswich

It is very pleasing to note that Ipswich Film Theatre re-opened in May and has proved very popular. Great credit should go the members of IFT Trust, acting on their conviction that if the programming was right and the publicity clear-cut and issued well in advance there would be audiences for films made outside the Hollywood criteria - which at present seem confined to appealing to youthful audiences with an emphasis on romance and/or violence! The trustees have been proved right so far and many new faces have appeared at IFT box office.

In some ways it is a model of how a community-run facility can work. The Trust has negotiated rental terms with the Borough Council who continue to own the Film Theatre and Corn Exchange. The ushers are all volunteers but the bulk of the work and responsibility falls on the shoulders of the members of the Trust. The success, however, lies not simply in the model but in the precise combination of talents and experience represented in the trustees who comprise a solicitor, an accountant, a journalist, a former Borough councillor, a person with PR and advertising experience and an experienced films programmer. Ipswich is fortunate indeed to benefit from this ideally qualified team. Long may they succeed!