Filmhouse cinema announces opening programme

Edinburgh’s landmark cinema Filmhouse will re-open its doors with a hand-picked programme of the very best films the cinema missed out on playing during its closure.

Article Source: Filmhouse
Last Updated: 12 June 2025 13:24

Thursday 12 June 2025 – From 27 June 2025, Edinburgh’s landmark cinema Filmhouse will re-open its doors with a hand-picked programme of the very best films the cinema missed out on playing during the venue’s two-and-a-half-year closure. The programme will have a strong emphasis on films that did not screen in the city because of its absence. Tickets are on sale now via the Filmhouse website.

Filmhouse has long been celebrated as a cultural cornerstone, showcasing world cinema in all its brilliance and diversity, from crowd-pleasing favourites and to avant-garde arthouse works, restored classics, and curated retrospectives. 

The first film to welcome audiences back to the venue will be the much-loved film gem and ode to the beauty of the cinemagoing experience, Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso (1988).

On opening weekend, audiences can also enjoy Martyn Robertson’s acclaimed new film Make It To Munich, an inspiring documentary which follows 18-year-old Ethan Walker, who just months after nearly losing his life in an accident, embarks on a 1200km cycle ride to Munich for Scotland’s Euros opening game against Germany. Ethan himself will attend a special Q&A screening on Filmhouse's opening day, alongside the film's director Martyn Robertson and former Motherwell, Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger Pat Nevin.

Edinburgh based filmmaker Matt Palmer will present a free double-bill of his gutsy thriller Calibre (2018) starring Jack Lowden and Tony Curran alongside his hit horror Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025) which debuted at No.1 on Netflix on its release earlier in the year and will have its first ever public cinema screening at Filmhouse. Matt will also take part in a Q&A after the screening.

Lotte Reiniger’s classic feature length paper cut animation The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) will screen in a special event soundtracked with live music by Edinburgh based musical improvisers and innovators S!nk in a transportive performance filled with swirling, spiralling strings, saxophones, accordion, percussion and voices.

Also screening at the cinema are a selection of recent acclaimed films from around the world from new and established filmmakers including Payal Kapadia’s soulful All We Imagine As Light, Sébastien Marnier’s thrilling Origin of Evil, Christian Petzold’s riveting Afire, Gints Zilbalodis's enchanting animation Flow, Hlynur Pálmason's nuanced drama Godland, Alice Rohrwacher’s radically adventurous film La Chimera, Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha’s joyous My Favourite Cake, Mario Martone’s brilliantly shot Nostalgia, Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s tense thriller The Beasts, Ilker Çatak’s uncompromising The Teachers’ Lounge, Alexandre de La Patellière & Matthieu Delaporte energetic take on Count of Monte Cristo, Manuela Martelli’s compelling noir 1976, Víctor Erice’s mysterious Close Your Eyes, Robert Zemeckis’s Here and Celine Song’s acclaimed Past Lives.

70mm engagements at the cinema will include Brady Corbet’s award-winning The Brutalist and Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer alongside Robert Egger’s Nosferatu on 35mm.

More upcoming screenings will be announced via Filmhouse socials soon.

Over the next few months, Filmhouse will once again partner with many of Scotland’s film festivals offering a fabulous space in which to welcome their audiences, alongside technical and marketing packages French Film Festival UK, Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival, Take One Action!, Edinburgh Short Film Festival and Iberodocs Film Festival amongst many others.  Alongside this, the cinema will also screen events such as National Theatre Live for the first time, with more details to be confirmed in the coming months.  Details of Filmhouse’s involvement with this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival are yet to be announced . 

With, ultimately, a total capacity of 340 seats, Filmhouse is set to once again become a hub for film enthusiasts, offering a cutting-edge cinematic experience, a vibrant social space, and a platform for film lovers and filmmakers to engage with the very best in global cinema. Previously a three-screen venue, the new Filmhouse will become a four-screen cinema and soon will be unveiling a fourth screen with a capacity of 24, allowing for an even more expansive programme, as well as being available for private screenings and hires.

Filmhouse’s technical capabilities include 70mm, 35mm, 16mm, 8mm, and digital projection. The cinema also includes a Clipster Unit for creating Digital Cinema Packages (DCPs) required for festival and theatrical distribution. 

Comfort has been prioritised across the new Filmhouse. Film-lovers can expect extra legroom and comfortable seats across the cinema’s screens, alongside a completely reworked foyer space.  

Built in a repurposed church on Edinburgh’s Lothian Road, Filmhouse has been a cinematic landmark since 1978. Following a £2 million refurbishment, Scotland’s leading independent cinema Filmhouse returns with new leadership, a vision which builds on the venue’s legacy as a space for learning and discovery, and a commitment to building a sustainable future for this iconic cultural landmark. 

The completely refurbished Filmhouse Bar will be able to seat 100 people for lunch and dinner, with drinks available throughout the day, catering for the many communities who enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere, and placing an emphasis on produce from Edinburgh and Scotland, offering great food and drink alongside environmental sustainability. Filmhouse fans will be pleased to know that the cinema’s world-famous nachos are staying put too.  

The cinema will announce new membership offers and multiple-tier ticket pricing over the next few weeks. 

Following its closure in October 2022, the reopening of Filmhouse marks the culmination of a three-year long campaign to save the historic cinema backed by film lovers in Edinburgh, Scotland, and around the world and by A-list film talent including patrons Jack Lowden and Charlotte Wells, as well as Dougray Scott, Brian Cox, and Emma Thompson.

The stage is set, the screens are ready, and the story of Filmhouse continues. 

Rod White, Programming Director of Filmhouse, said: “Looking into the films that simply didn’t make it on to Edinburgh cinema screens at all during Filmhouse’s closure only hammered home the need for it in this great City of Culture. It’s been tough – whilst Filmhouse was closed – to watch some brilliant films come and go from cinemas without being able to offer a venue to watch them in... The good news is, Filmhouse has never been a better place to watch a film (and talk about it afterward!) than it is today and we simply cannot wait to welcome everyone back, or, for the first time!”

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