Category: Cinema History

Welcome to the DVD extras!

My love of cinemas and their rich history can’t be contained by just stories about 100 of them and walks in London.

Here you’ll find articles where I enthuse about film and cinemas more broadly as well as guest contributions and regular Q&As where you can read the cinema-going memories of a wide range of people.

The crumbling domed ceiling of the Kingsland Empire

18 November 2025

Echoes of the past above the Rio Cinema

Hidden above the ceiling of the Rio Cinema on Kingsland High Road are the remnants of an Edwardian picture palace. Accompanied by someone who knows the building's history inside out I've been lucky enough to take an up-close look...

Nigel Smith

11 September 2025

From Foyer to Flicker: How Cinemas Enchanted Audiences Before the Lights Went Down

RJ Verity’s novel Poole of Light is set against the backdrop of Britain’s cinema boom before World War II. Here she writes about some of the real-life influences on the book.

RJ Verity

11 August 2025

Falling in love with the Everyman Hampstead

Film historian Margaret O'Brien looks back on how her love affair with the world’s first repertory cinema began...

Margaret O'Brien

22 March 2025

The saga of screening The Sideshow

Kennington Bioscope programmer and presenter Michelle Facey recalls her quest that brought a rare silent movie from Los Angeles to London.

Michelle Facey

8 May 2024

A visit to Kent MOMI

I do like to be beside the seaside. Even more so when there’s an excellent museum dedicated to the history of film a few minutes’ walk from the beach, which is exactly what you’ll find in Deal on the Kent coast.