Film night came to the Annie on 28 November. We had a screening of The Old Oak, the recently released movie from Ken Loach. We chose the film as it deals with a struggling pub, The Old Oak, in an economically deprived area in the North East who start a free food venture with the help of refugees from the Syrian conflict. Therefore the film’s theme resonates with the Antwerp for a number of reasons.
We showed it on a free food day so many of our volunteers could stay and watch it. Our own lead volunteer chef Mahur is from the middle east as are Arro and Appo who currently run our Kurdish kitchen.
In the absence of a proper cinema in Tottenham there are a couple of cinema clubs like the one that meets at Broadwater Farm. Cinema goers have to sign up in advance and we aren’t allowed to publicise the precise film we were showing for licensing reasons. Free snacks made in the kitchen, pop corn and drinks were available at our nighr.
The film itself is a gritty piece. Mid way through I was hoping there could be a happy ending – Ant and Dec would turn up with a big lottery grant to save the kitchen; Grace Dent or Jay Rayner would give the kitchen 5 star reviews and they would be mobbed by foodies; the casual racists in the bar would go on a fishing trip and never come back; or that the dour landlord (Dave Turner) would actually find unlikely love with the sweet Syrian photographer (Ebla Mari). But no, this is Ken Loach. So the film trundled on to a rather bleak conclusion. But it did show that economic deprivation has no boundaries whether you live in former mining village or are newly arrived from a conflict zone. The problems of both communities are shared.
Our cinema experience was a popular one so we might try it again and make it a regular event. Next time we might try the Sound of Music singalong version, get one over on the Nazis and all be slightly uplifted.
Tottenham was once rich in cinemas but has been a movie desert for many years. At one time it had six cinemas. The biggest was The Palace on the High Road opposite the Police Station (a wonderful building now closed and boarded up); Bruce Grove Cinema (now the roller rink); The Florida (on the High Road near Ruskin Avenue); The Imperial (West Green Road); and The Mayfair and The Corner (at Seven Sisters) junction with the High Road.
The AAA is represented on the Tottenham Traders Partnership as a night time economy representative so we have lobbied the council and other agencies for a night time economy strategy. We’d like to see safety issues addressed so more people will be confident enough to come out to our pub. We’re conscious that we are bit off the beaten track as a non High Street location. In a recent regeneration survey we also made the point that the return of a cinema to Tottenham would pull in people who might stop off for drinks and food. Tottenham Hotspur’s recently published development plans for the area around the stadium included proposals for a venue that could host a cinema. We think their scheme is much better than the proposals approved by the council using the plans drawn up by the developer Lend Lease