A volunteer-run cinema in Kensal Rise is celebrating its tenth birthday this month with a line up of activities.
The Lexi, in Chamberlayne Road, is marking a decade of film screening and fundraising with four weeks’ entertainment starting today.
Fans can enjoy special screenings and exhibitions until the official birthday party celebrations on October 25.
Actress Tamsin Greig, star of Channel 4s Friday Night Dinner, said: “I love the Lexi cinema. It is local, shows a great range of films, has an enlightening selection of beverages and any-time-of-the-day snacks, and has a great vision at its heart in pouring all its profits into the Lynedoch eco-village in South Africa.
“Our increasingly individualised small-screen viewing isolates us. The Lexi cinema allows small groups of people to commune in story, to be caught up in the grand intimacy of shared experience. This is a big thing.”
The Lexi donates all profits to charity and, since opening its doors in 2008, has welcomed over 520 volunteers without whom the cinema could not operate.
The majority of its charity donations go towards improving the quality of life for people living in Lynedoch village.
Lexi money has helped support many projects including maintaining the village’s crèche, providing school meals, running afterschool clubs and activities, as well as developing solar power and water management systems.
The Lexi Film School is kicking off the first of three separate screenings with Under the Sand on onday, Pressure on October 8 and Midnight on October 22.
As well as screening popular mainstream films such as the Incredibles 2, there will be live opera screenings, and documentaries including A Very Caribbean Pot with Q&A on October 13, telling the tales of Windrush generations settled here.
Rosie Greatorex, cinema and programme director at The Lexi, said: “The Lexi is a unique model for small cultural institutions at a time where so many similar community hubs are under increasing financial duress.
The Lexi allows our community to experience great cinematic stories, whilst also supporting future generations in a very different part of the world – and we hope it continues for many decades to come”.
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