18th October 2021
Whether of not you are London based, if you are interested in Cinema, you may be aware of The Cinema Museum (http://www.cinemamuseum.org.uk/). They have been in residence at the former Lambeth Workhouse, that was once the home of Charlie Chaplin, his mother and his brother, for the past 22 years. In 2018 this Grade ll listed property was sold together with the surrounding site to property developers, and in consequence the long-term future of the Museum is not secure. They survived the required closure during the COVID pandemic as a result of Crowdfunding and the support of Art Fund. Only last week Martin Humphries and Ronald Grant, directors of The Cinema Museum were awarded the international Jean Mitry Award at the Pordenone Festival (see attached press release) for their work in creating The Cinema Museum and using it to help support the heritage and the future of silent film. In the worlds of silent film and cinema history this award is a real BIG deal – and in making the award the Museum was referred to as a place of global pilgrimage for the world’s silent film and cinema fans.
Despite this prestigious award, The Cinema Museum nears the end game in its fight for survival. They intend delivering a petition to ‘Save the Cinema Museum’ on November the 5th and launching a big final fight – once the petition is delivered, it is essentially closed – so this is everyone’s last chance. They intend exceeding 60,000 signatures, they currently have just shy of 58,000 – close, but a way to go yet. Please do what you can to help them over the line on this last shove – by signing, sharing on social media, and perhaps sharing the link on emails etc. Here is the https://tinyurl.com/y9jgubrv