Moving Image is a local, non-profit cinema organisation based in Wivenhoe, Essex. It provides people in the town and surrounding area with the opportunity to watch a range of films locally, rather than having to travel to a larger cinema elsewhere. The organisation is run entirely by volunteers and is set up as a charity, with its work focused on film, the arts and providing activities for the local community.
The main thing Moving Image does is organise regular film screenings. These take place at the William Loveless Hall on Wivenhoe High Street, which is used as a temporary cinema for the screenings. The hall is fitted out for the occasion, allowing local residents to watch films on a large screen in a community setting. Moving Image is listed by the Independent Cinema Office as a cinema society operating from the William Loveless Hall.
The films shown by Moving Image cover a fairly broad range. The organisation describes its programme as including both independent and mainstream films, so it is not limited to one particular type of cinema. It shows recent releases alongside older films and classics. This gives the programme a mixture of films that people may already be familiar with and others that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to see locally. There are also occasional afternoon screenings aimed at children.
Recent examples show the variety of the programme. Screenings have included Bird, directed by Andrea Arnold, A Complete Unknown, about Bob Dylan, and I’m Still Here, which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. These screenings have been held at the William Loveless Hall, normally in the evening.
Moving Image also operates as a community organisation rather than simply a cinema. Its charitable objectives include encouraging the public to learn about and appreciate film and other visual arts. It also aims to provide facilities and activities that benefit people living in Wivenhoe and the surrounding area. In practice, this means that the organisation provides a cultural activity that is available within the local community and gives people a reason to come together for an evening.
An important part of Moving Image is that it is volunteer-run. The organisation does not operate like a commercial cinema chain. The Charity Commission records it as a non-profit organisation and states that its cinema is run entirely by volunteers. Its latest published information lists six trustees and fourteen volunteers. This volunteer involvement allows the organisation to continue putting on screenings as a local community service.
The organisation also takes films beyond its regular screenings at the community centre. According to its charitable records, Moving Image has taken films to a number of community events in Wivenhoe and the surrounding area. This means its work is not restricted to its regular programme at the William Loveless Hall. It can also be involved in other local events where a film screening would be suitable.
Moving Image has also been involved in developing film activities in Wivenhoe. Local community funding has previously supported the organisation with equipment and other costs, including funding towards a projector screen and black-out curtains for the William Loveless Hall. There has also been support for the organisation’s film festival. This reflects its role as part of the wider network of community and cultural organisations in the town.
The organisation’s activities are therefore fairly straightforward. It selects films, arranges screenings, provides the equipment and venue needed to show them, and manages the practical side of running a local cinema. It also promotes the screenings and deals with tickets and memberships. Because it is volunteer-run and non-profit making, the emphasis is on providing a useful local service rather than operating as a commercial cinema business.
For audiences, this provides an alternative to travelling into Colchester or further afield to see films. The screenings offer a more local and community-based way of going to the cinema, using an existing venue in the centre of Wivenhoe. The programme also means that audiences can see films which may not always be available at larger cinemas, particularly independent or less mainstream titles.
Moving Image also has a membership system. Recent event listings have shown different prices for members and non-members, with students and children sometimes admitted free. This is another indication of the organisation’s community focus and its aim of keeping screenings accessible to local people.
Overall, Moving Image is essentially a community cinema for Wivenhoe. It organises regular film screenings, shows a mixture of independent, mainstream and classic films, occasionally puts on children’s screenings, and takes films to other community events. It is a non-profit organisation run by local volunteers, with its work centred on making film available to people in Wivenhoe and supporting local cultural and leisure activities.
Rather than being a conventional cinema with its own permanent building, Moving Image makes use of the William Loveless Hall and turns it into a cinema for its screenings. Its purpose is fairly simple: to bring films to Wivenhoe, provide people with somewhere local to watch them, and encourage an interest in film as part of community life.
