Plea to save Screen Machine from shutdown

1 September 2023

A cinema on wheels which brings blockbuster films to the Western Isles and Highlands risks going off the road due to a funding crisis.

The Screen Machine faces closure in the spring warns the team which urged islanders to contact politicians and councillors in an effort to save the service which has operated for the last quarter of a century.

A reprieve from closure was secured earlier this year with a temporary lease on a stand-in truck for the former vehicle which kept breaking down resulting in screenings being unavoidably cancelled.

But the articulated vehicle that converts into a 78-seater cinema is to be returned to its owners in April and there’s no cash to buy a new one says the operator.

Renewing the lease “isn’t possible” and the old cinema is “no longer fit for purpose,” leaving the future of the service “under threat.”

“Without significant funding to place an order for a new cinema, the Screen Machine service will cease.

If the Scottish Government committed half the cost Regional Screen Scotland pledged to launch a massive fundraising effort to cover the rest.

A spokesperson said: “Our lease of Cinemobile will expire in April 2024, and without investment for a brand new greener mobile cinema, the Screen Machine service will be wound down.

“We need the Scottish Government to provide 50% of the approximately £1.4 million for a new cinema.

“This will allow us to begin construction as we fundraise the rest of the balance.

They added: “We need you to write to MSPs to let them know you care about the future of the Screen Machine service.”

“We understand that this may come as a shock to some of you, but we believe that with the voices of our communities behind us, we will be able to build a new cinema and continue to bring films to all of you for many more years.”