Campaign launched to save city's oldest cinema

Oxford's oldest cinema has said it is at risk of closure if the university college that owns the building doesn't renew its lease.

The Ultimate Picture Palace opened in 1911 and was the city's first purpose-built cinema, seeing multiple iterations, becoming community-owned and gaining recognition as a community asset by the city council last year.

Campaigners say the much-loved building is in need of repairs and renovations which investors are prepared to fund so long as the palace has a long term lease past its current 2037 expiration.

Oriel College bought the cinema building in 2021 and said it currently has no plans to extend the lease.

The grade II-listed building in Jeune Street in Cowley has touched the lives of many, with Sam Mendes, Hugh Bonneville and Chris Morris among those who have expressed a fondness for it.

Among signatories of the petition launched by the cinema on Thursday is one of the producers of the Oscar-nominated British film Hamnet, which is up for Best Picture this weekend.

Dame Pippa Harris DBE said the cinema had a "special place in her heart" ever since she was a school girl.

"It opened my eyes to an amazing world I knew I wanted to be a part of," she said.

"Big dreams started in that little cinema and I'm lucky my dream came true".

The registered society that runs the cinema – The Ultimate Picture Palace Community Cinema Limited (UPPCC) – agreed a lease until 2037 with Oriel College when it became community owned in 2022.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign to save the cinema, among more than 150 other campaigners, Labour MP for Oxford East Anneliese Dodds said she hoped the college would "change their position".

"I think they can see from the turnout today, from all the support that's been expressed previously, that this is a very important place for the community."

Ultimate Picture Palace CEO Micaela Tuck said she "thinks there's enormous potential for a creative partnership with Oriel College", but said they haven't had correspondence with it since November.

Oriel College said: "We are proud of our heritage cinema, the Ultimate Picture Palace, and are in dialogue with the new managers about how to ensure it remains open to the wider public. We have no plans to extend the lease at this early stage in the tenancy."

You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.