The Scotsman Bulletin Thursday June 26 2025 #ArtsandCulture #EdinburghFilmhouse

The Scotsman

Edinburgh's Filmhouse is poised for a grand return! Dale and Jane delve into the exciting plans for reopening this beloved cultural institution.  They discuss the strategic vision driving the Filmhouse's revival, highlighting key initiatives and community engagement efforts. Hear about the financial backing and partnerships crucial to sustaining its future. This episode explores the Filmhouse's significance in Edinburgh's cultural landscape.  Learn about the challenges overcome and the innovative approaches ensuring the Filmhouse remains a vibrant hub for film lovers. Discover how it will continue to champion diverse voices and enrich Edinburgh’s cinematic experience.  #EdinburghFilm #FilmhouseReopening #CulturalVenues #FilmCulture

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Video Bulletin for this Thursday.

00:05My name's Dale Miller, I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman

00:07and I'm joined by our Arts and Culture Correspondent, Jane Bradley.

00:12Jane, there's a ton of stuff to talk about

00:15and if we pull up the front page of today's Scotsman,

00:19you'll see in the top left corner, they're inside the film house

00:22and Jane, we're going to get to that shortly

00:24because Edinburgh's film house is pretty much officially back open

00:28with a screening for a lot of people that have donated money

00:32towards the reopening taking place last night.

00:35We splashed on public sector jobs to be axed

00:39as a near £5 billion black hole looms.

00:42This was revealed in the Medium Term Financial Strategy

00:47published by the Scottish Government late yesterday.

00:51Almost £5 billion to be found.

00:54It's a massive amount of money.

00:55There's been a lot of talk about the size of the public sector currently.

01:01It has hit a record high, we revealed, back towards the weekend

01:04with directly employed government jobs reaching over 27,000.

01:10But there are some 550,000 jobs in the wider devolved public sector workforce now.

01:17The government has flagged that 0.5% of those jobs will need to go each year

01:22for the next five years to effectively make the savings required.

01:26We did the numbers.

01:27That's 2,750 jobs per year for the next five years.

01:31It is a significant number.

01:34And there's some concerns raised from the IFS and others

01:36about how they will do that

01:38and whether they've underestimated the size of the black hole,

01:42as concerning as that is.

01:43So there is some major belt tightening

01:45that is going to be happening at Scottish Government level

01:48over the next couple of years to achieve these targets.

01:50That's pretty heavy stuff, Jane.

01:53So let's talk about something a bit more uplifting,

01:55which is the film house.

01:57You went back in.

01:58You went in with our head of audiovisual, Andy O'Brien,

02:03who captured some terrific pictures and video.

02:06Firstly, talk to us.

02:08What's it like back inside the film house?

02:10It's fantastic.

02:12I mean, it's due to open officially tomorrow.

02:14As you say, there's been some kind of pre-screenings this week.

02:17We got a look inside last week.

02:18The finishing touches were still being put to it.

02:20There's still, you know, a few workmen around in hard hats,

02:23but it was basically complete.

02:26When you walk in, it looks the same but different.

02:29It's much more modern.

02:30It's lighter.

02:31It's brighter.

02:32There's a lot of kind of light wood.

02:33It looks lovely.

02:34It's very stylish.

02:35But it's still got that same film house feel.

02:37So if you're a fan of the film house

02:38before its closure two and a half years ago,

02:41you will still feel like you're going back to the same building.

02:44There's a new cafe bar.

02:45The layout is very similar.

02:47So if you liked being in the little sort of snug room around the corner,

02:50that is still there.

02:51But again, it's much more modern.

02:53It looks beautiful.

02:55And then within the screens, Cinema One has completely new seats.

03:00I think Ginny Atkinson, who's one of the directors,

03:02told me that it's basically when it was built,

03:05people were happy to kind of have their knees up around their chins.

03:08They were happy to be squished into seats and they didn't really mind

03:10when they were sitting watching a film.

03:11Obviously, modern audiences are used to the kind of big cinemas

03:15with the reclining chairs and, you know,

03:17the comfort of that sort of aspect of it.

03:19And they've got much bigger, much more comfortable seats now.

03:23And, yeah, it all looks fantastic,

03:25but it still very much has the feel of the old film house.

03:28And, Jane, there's still some fundraising happening

03:31in the background, isn't there?

03:33And one of the cinema rooms still to open, I think,

03:37in part depending on that fundraising.

03:39Well, there is a fourth screen, which is due to open in July.

03:43The funding is in place for that.

03:45But there's just some finishing touches need to be finished off there.

03:48That's an extra screen that wasn't there in the old film house.

03:51So that's a much smaller screen.

03:52It's going to be used for sort of quite specific things.

03:55And also people will be able to rent it out for kind of small parties

03:58or sort of private screenings, that kind of thing.

04:01The funding is in place for that.

04:02What they need is they need an extra about £200,000,

04:05they told me, to upgrade a few things.

04:07As a visitor, you won't notice immediately now.

04:10It's things like laser projectors,

04:12which are much more kind of energy efficient,

04:15and there's other kind of efficiencies.

04:17And then also a few accessibility issues.

04:20They want to upgrade their lift to make it even more accessible

04:22for people with mobility issues.

04:24So things like that will happen once that funding is in place.

04:27After two and a half years of closure,

04:30I think people will just be delighted that the venue's back open

04:34and it hasn't been lost to Edinburgh and Scotland's cultural landscape.

04:37So fantastic and fantastic to have that happening in time

04:41for festival season this year.

04:43Our political editor, Alistair Grant,

04:45was at that special screening last night where Cinema Paradiso was shown,

04:50and he'll be writing a first-person piece on the experience

04:53that you'll be able to read on the Scotsman website later today.

04:57Jane, that's obviously been a big one this week,

05:00but there's also a new exhibition at the V&A that is taking place,

05:05and I know that there's a link in the politics there with it as well.

05:09Yeah, absolutely.

05:10So the new exhibition at the V&A, which is opening today,

05:12it is an exhibition of Palestinian dresses.

05:15So it's been put together in collaboration with the Palestine Museum

05:20in the West Bank.

05:21There is about 30 dresses, I believe, and also some photographs

05:25which kind of show the history of the type of embroidered dress,

05:28which is very specific to that culture.

05:31Also, there is one particular dress worn by Humza Yusuf's wife, Nadia,

05:37who is a Dundee city councillor,

05:38and she wore that dress at the swearing-in of Humza Yusuf as first minister.

05:43So that dress has been lent to the exhibition,

05:45and that is going to be there.

05:47But overall, the exhibition itself will be really quite interesting,

05:50interesting to see, interesting costumes

05:52and interesting sort of archival photographs and footage

05:55and things which go with it.

05:58If you haven't been back to the V&A Dundee lately,

06:00it is well worth a visit.

06:02My last trip was about 18 months ago,

06:04and it remains a spectacular building,

06:08but that is one to watch as well.

06:10Please, you'll be able to follow all the latest on the Scotland

06:13news front and what's happening more widely outside the country.

06:18At scotsman.com, we'll have all the latest

06:20from the Dundee University grillings taking place at Holyrood.

06:25It is former principal, Professor Ian Gillespie,

06:29who's up.

06:29We've been waiting a number of months, really,

06:32to hear from him to try and justify

06:33how the university has collapsed into the financial position.

06:38It is to the point where the Scottish Government

06:40is giving the university 40 million pounds

06:43over three years to stay afloat.

06:45Rachel Armoury is covering that.

06:46You can get all the latest at the site,

06:48and please pick up a copy of the paper and print tomorrow

06:51where you'll get the full and latest wrap.

06:54Jane, thanks to you,

06:55and thanks to everyone else for joining us.

06:56Thanks.

07:10I love it.

07:12I love it.

07:15I love it.

07:18Bye.

07:21Bye.

07:22Bye.

07:23Bye.

07:24Bye.

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