Pop-up 'film house' in Civic aims to bring back the glory days of cinema

Since COVID, Alice Taylor reckons not enough people have re-emerged from their cosy places, seated on the couch with all Netflix has to offer at their fingertips.

The former Canberra International Film Festival director has opened what she describes as a “pop-up cinema lounge and bar” in Civic Square, designed to fix this.

“It’s got cosy, comfy lounge seating, some tables and chairs – so not your typical rows of cinema seats … and there’s also a bar area that opens out into the square,” she says.

“Ultimately, it’s just about wanting to have a really fun, cosy space where people can come and watch movies together.”

Elsie’s Film House, named after Ms Taylor’s great grandmother, was awarded funding under the City Renewal Authority’s latest ‘Placemaking Grants’ program.

This program is designed to “develop and support the vitality of Civic, Braddon and New Acton through creative and engaging place-making initiatives”.

It opened during the National Multicultural Festival on 13 February, starting with “free short and feature film screenings celebrating multicultural Australia”.

Apart from her background in film festivals and film production, Ms Taylor has a love for “sharing really good cinema with people”, and “particularly the classics”.

“I wanted to do something with a bit more longevity to it,” she says.

“I grew up in Canberra, but missed the kind of Electric Shadows and Art House cinemas and independent cinemas that had a lot more of a social feel to it, and curated films.

“So I just thought, if I can’t find it anywhere, I’ll create it.”

Not feeling completely confident it would work as a full-time business, however, she applied for the grant.

“It’s allowed me to set up a space that wasn’t being used in the city, and bring people in who may not have otherwise come.”

For members of the public, buying tickets off the Humanitix site, the focus is on “retro favourites from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s”. Think The Princess Bride, Edward Scissorhands and, a little further back, the Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera.

“They’re the kinds of films that people will see more than once, and enjoy seeing with their friends because they’re familiar with the catchphrases,” she says.

“I actually crammed quite a lot of my favorites into the first couple of weeks of programming. Paris, Texas is a favourite of mine, and we screened In the Mood for Love on Valentine’s Day, and that was really popular.”

The film house also offers weekly screenings at the request of a “diverse” range of community groups.

“The good thing about cinema is you can be really targeted with your programming, so for example, Vegan ACT have contacted me about screening a film about animal rights, and I’ve also partnered with a migrant and refugee settlement service to run films with different migrant communities,” Ms Taylor explains.

Elsie’s Film House will also host its own Comedy Film Festival, including a screening of The Castle on Friday, 14 March, A Night at the Opera and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Saturday, 15 March, Funny Bones on Friday, 21 March, and iThree Amigos! and A Fish Called Wanda on Saturday, 22 March.

“An English American co-pro, Funny Bones, is very underrated, in my opinion,” she adds.

As a pop-up, the film house is only in place until late July, but Ms Taylor already says she’d “love to keep it going”.

“That’s definitely something in the back of my mind.”

Her source of inspiration is the film house’s namesake, Elsie.

“I thought back to the women of my great grandmother’s generation who didn’t have the same kind of freedom and power to go out and just live out a dream or set up a business,” Ms Taylor says.

“It’s almost like a little nod to the women who have come before.”

Elsie’s Film House runs from 14 March to 30 March. To see the full program of screenings, or to book tickets, visit Humanitix.