Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema announces plans to reopen on May 17 with a stellar line-up of films to be screened

The largest independent cinema in South Yorkshire closed its door after only opening for six weeks last autumn and faced one of the most challenging years in its 25-year history.

Now hoping to return with a stellar line-up of independent, family and Oscar-winning films, Showroom Cinema is once again ready to open its doors.

As a registered charity, Showroom Cinema plays a vital role in championing diverse film from across the world and is a cultural hub for the city's community.

It received £174,916 as part of the Government s Culture Recovery Fund 2 grant, which has contributed to reopening costs and will help secure the cinema's future until June 2021.

Ian Wild, CEO of Showroom Workstation, said: "We’re keeping everything crossed we can reopen our doors in May. It's been an unbelievably hard year. If it wasn't for our loyal audience and help through government grants, we would be in a very different position now.

"We've still got a huge challenge ahead, operating on just 25% screen capacity, but we want to make sure the health and safety of our staff and audience are at the forefront of anything we do. We will continue with the myriad of safety measures we introduced last year and are holding training with all our employees over the next few weeks.

"We've been fortunate to secure such a varied and exciting opening programme. Many of the films deserve to be seen on a big screen to appreciate the incredible visuals and soundscapes, and we are thrilled that this is now within reach.

"We can't wait to reopen our doors and welcome film fans back from across South Yorkshire."

The glittering line-up of films features, ‘Nomadland’, winner of three Academy Awards at this week’s Oscars; Best Actress for Frances McDormand's outstanding performance, Best Director for Chloe Zhao, only the second woman to win the award and the first-ever woman of colour, and the sought-after gong – Best Picture.

Also screening in the first week of opening will be Academy Award winner for Best Sound – ‘Sound of Metal’ starring Riz Ahmed, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ featuring the powerful performance from Best Supporting Actor Daniel Kaluuya, and ‘Minari’ featuring a shining performance by Yuh-Jung Youn, who secured the Best Supporting Actress award.

The Father will also be coming to the Showroom screens from Monday, June 14. The film features Anthony Hopkins, who received the Best Actor award at the grand age of 83 for his role as a London patriarch struggling with dementia.

Other films featured in the Showroom's reopening programming include two enchanting family films that will dazzle imaginative young eyes – ‘Wolfwalkers’, a charming tale of magic and Irish folklore and ‘Earwig & the Witch’, the latest film from Studio Ghibli, both screening during the May half term.

Demon Slayer, the exciting Japanese box office-breaking film that became the highest-grossing anime and highest-grossing Japanese film of all time, will also be screening in June. It's now taking America by storm setting records for a foreign-language film debut in the United States, even during a pandemic.

For more information or to buy tickets for visit, showroomworkstation.org.uk/cinema