We feel that the Phoenix Cinema is a celebration of bringing people together through film for our Orkney community.
Although our cinema is closed, we are still here and want to continue to inform you of what's available as well as finding out what you're watching at home. Fortunately for us all, we live in a time when access to movies is easier than ever through channels such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. These outlets will help all of us cope during this period of lockdown, and can be an opportunity to watch films or series’ that we didn’t have the time to watch before.
There have been a number of new opportunities made available while we’re all at home, and we will continue to share these with you. Read below for five new ways you can experience film either with your family, friends or just on your own:
1) NTL weekly releases
If you're missing National Theatre Live performances, National Theatre At Home is releasing a production every Thursday at 7pm on their YouTube channel. It can be watched for free, on-demand for seven days. You can watch the productions each week on their YouTube channel.
For more information visit the National Theatre's website.
2) Into Film
Into Film puts film at the heart of children and young people's education, helping to support their academic, cultural, and social development. While lockdown continues, they are making a number of their activities freely available to all for both Primary and Secondary aged children. Find out what activities are available through the Into Film website.
Young film fans can also take part in Review 100, where they have a chance of winning a £20 Amazon voucher for describing what they think about a film in just 100 words. A winner will be picked every two weeks, so there's lot of opportunities to take part. Find out how to take part in this competition by clicking this link to their website.
3) Royal Opera House
For the culturally curious, the Royal Opera House is offering an ‘Our House To Your House’ series which sees them share one production on Facebook and YouTube every Friday night at 7pm. This free online content can be access for free anywhere, anytime, and will include the following programmes:
- Peter and the Wolf, The Royal Ballet, 2010 – 27 March 2020, 7pm GMT
- Acis and Galatea, The Royal Opera, 2009 – 3 April 2020, 7pm BST
- Così fan tutte, The Royal Opera, 2010 – 10 April 2020, 7pm BST
- The Metamorphosis, The Royal Ballet, 2013 – 17 April 2020, 7pm BST
- Gloriana, The Royal Opera, 2013 – 24 April 2020, 7pm BST
- The Winter’s Tale, The Royal Ballet, 2014 – 1 May 2020, 7pm BST
For full details and to access the productions, visit the Royal Opera House website.
4) The Shows Must Go On!
This is your chance to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals that can be streamed online for free as part of ‘The Shows Must Go On’ Series, giving you backstage access and full performances from some of the best loved musicals in history!
The next production is Phantom of the Opera, a filmed special 25th anniversary version, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall in 2011 and will be released today (16 April) at 7pm. This will be available for 24 hours in the UK.
You can catch them all on their YouTube channel.
5) Create your own virtual cinema
We have plenty of time to get creative at the moment. Why not try a virtual screening with one of your friends or loved ones where you watch the film together, virtually? There are endless ideas out there of what to watch, such as Westside Cinema’s What’s On At Home blog. Or you can choose a free to view film, watch it together, and pretend you’re on Gogglebox! This is one you can really have fun with.