The Forum Cinema Hexham is proud to be celebrating their 85th Birthday this August 2022 with a series of special events including 85p film screenings from films released in their opening year of 1937, a ‘History of The Forum’ presentation and a fantastic art exhibition from local children in the café/bar!
The first in a series of birthday celebrations comes from local historian, Mark Benjamin, who will be delivering an insightful presentation detailing the history of The Forum and its place in Hexham’s past, present and future. The talk will take place in the cinema’s café/bar on 13th August at 1.30pm. Tickets are free, but seating is limited.
As well as being the year that The Forum first opened its doors, 1937 also saw the original version of the iconic but bittersweet, A Star is Born, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March hitting the silver screen. The Forum will be screening the classic film for just 85p a ticket on 23rd August at 7.30pm.
Finally, to round of this series of events, there will also be a screening of Walt Disney's first feature-length animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which was released during The Forum's first year in Hexham! The screening will take place on 27th August with tickets also costing 85p.
Tickets are available now from The Forum’s café/bar, via telephone on 01434 601144 or online at www.forumhexham.com.
Throughout the whole of August, their will also be a selection of paintings and illustrations of iconic cinema characters on display all created by local school children. The Forum are also raffling off (for free) a James Bond: No Time to Die poster with the original 2020 screening date which was ultimately postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hexham’s Art-Deco picture house, The Forum Cinema, opened to the public on Monday 23rd August 1937 under the management of Tom Scott from the Hexham Entertainment Company. Tickets cost just one shilling (five pence in today’s money!), and the residents of Hexham were treated to a screening of George Formby’s, ‘Keep Your Seats, please’. The cinema was built on the site of the old Gem Picture Palace, where it is still situated, with only a few short breaks over the decades.
The local development trust, Hexham Community Partnership, are the current owners of the cinema after purchasing its lease in 2007 with a portion of the cinema’s profits going towards supporting Hexham, its residents and other businesses that operate here. The partnership has invested in and helped improve the facilities of The Forum since taking it on allowing the cinema team to provide the best experience possible for film lovers. The Forum has always strived to create community through cinema experiences, something which is still very important to The Forum.
