The Phoenix Cinema

Phoenix Cinema is one of the UK’s oldest purpose-built, continuously operating cinemas. Beneath the vaulted ceiling which dates back to 1910, the history of film has been shared with millions of audience members. From silent films with live music through two world wars when newsreels were the only source of moving images that captured events overseas; from the clicking reels of 24 frames a second to the digital projection of today, The Phoenix has witnessed it all. The other unique aspect of Phoenix Cinema is that since 1985 it has been a cinema of the community, run by a charitable trust for the community. Saved from the wrecker’s ball by the formation of The Phoenix Cinema Trust, it is a wholly independent single screen cinema showing the latest independent and foreign films and reinvesting its profits in education work and maintaining this historic building. To find out more about London’s oldest cinema, take a look at this online exhibition. Plus, watch this film celebrating The Phoenix’s first 100 years: