Duncan Place Community Cinema
Films in May
In May, we are trialling Thursday evening for our Community Cinema screenings. On the 8th May, we will be showing "On Falling", which tells the story of Aurora, a Portuguese migrant working as a warehouse picker in Edinburgh, Scotland. Trapped between the confines of a vast distribution centre and the solitude of her own bedroom, Aurora seeks out every opportunity to resist the alienation and isolation that threaten her sense of self. Set against a landscape dominated by an algorithm-driven gig economy, in a world designed to keep us apart, "On Falling" explores the silent, vital struggle to find meaning and connection.
On Falling - £4. More information here. Please book a spot at TicketLab
Films in May
If you are interested in Film we are also showing "Much Ado About Dying" on the 6th May at 2 pm.
From the 5th to the 11th of May it is Demystifying Death Week. Duncan Place is participating by having a special film screening of "Much Ado About Dying"
- Simon is shooting a film in India when his Uncle David calls him with a message of doom: “Come back to London, I think I may be dying.” What the viewer doesn’t yet know is that David is a Shakespeare-loving drama queen who has grown old on a diet of attention and applause. But Simon finds his own life drastically interrupted when he returns to try and sort everything out. David has no intention of dying.
As the months turn into years David accidently makes himself homeless, and refuses to go into a care home. While Simon tries to figure out how he can help his anarchic and spirited uncle, David sits in his kitchen reciting King Lear, “It’s the play about an old man becoming infirm, losing his mind and giving his kingdom away” he tells his nephew. Simon soon discovers that his uncle too has been giving away thousands of pounds to a hot young “carer”. As David’s life echoes the play that he loves so much, Simon is left with the challenge of trying to help David find a good ending to the drama that his own life has become.
After the special Demystifying Death Week film screening, there is an optional post-film Death Cafe. At a Death Cafe people, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death. The objective of the cafe is 'to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives'.
While our usual community cinema screenings have a ticket price of £4, this special film screening is free, thanks to some additional funding from the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care.
This event is for adults aged 16+
Much Ado About Dying - Free. More information here. Please book a spot at events@duncanplace.org
We’ve been really delighted with how well community cinema has been received at Duncan Place. Thank you to everyone that has been part of it. Our current cinema programme has now wrapped up; however, we are going to be receiving a small pot of funding to help us towards showing a further three films from September 2025. We’d ideally also love to put on a couple of pop-up screenings late spring/early summer. Watch this space! Keep in the know via our social media pages or sign up to our newsletter here.
Films we’ve shown so far include The Old Oak, Seven Songs for a Long Life, Adam, Everyman, Pride, Harold and Maude, Io Capitano, Save The Cinema, Restless Natives, Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands, and Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché.
We’ve accompanied some of those films with various things including a community meal, a death café, a film quiz, panel discussions and talks from The Welcoming, Girls Rock School Edinburgh and Engender, plus some musical performances too. Even the films where we’ve not had something after the film have been thoroughly enjoyed, as people have let us know that they enjoy the space to chat with other folks in their community about the film afterwards. Something that many feel they don’t get the opportunity to do in a traditional cinema venue. We'd like to say a huge thank you to the Local Cinema Project for supporting our community cinema events, and also to the community members in our film programming group who have helped to select the films we'll be showing.
If you have any questions about our Duncan Place community cinema, please email events@duncanplace.org
Local Cinema Project
Duncan Place Community Cinema is part of the Local Cinema project. The Local Cinema shared community cinema programme for Spring 2025, taking place across a range of community spaces in Edinburgh, has finished. Duncan Place Community Cinema is programmed in collaboration with community members. Local Cinema is supported by the City of Edinburgh Council, Film Hub Scotland and the Edinburgh Film Guild. More details about future programmes will be coming soon!