Cinema St Andrews examines the history of cinema within St Andrews from the medium’s origins to the present day. It also examines the history of cinema through St Andrews, using the town as a case study to explore cinematic developments over the past one hundred and twenty years. From the first appearance of Edison’s Kinetophone on Market Street in 1895 to the filming of Never Let Me Go in 2009, the site explores not only our local history, but also broader shifts in social and film history.
Established in 2011 and run by the Department of Film Studies at the University of St Andrews, Cinema St Andrews contains regular posts from staff and students, while also incorporating comments, recollections and interviews with local residents. The site uses archival research and personal recollections to uncover the histories of cinema within St Andrews.
The site is divided into five sections; exhibition, production, stars, cinema culture and movie audiences. In addition, you can search by keyword or through the timeline. This project is designed for use in education – both for university and schools – but also for all those with an interest in cinema. Furthermore, it is hoped that this project will be adapted and utilised beyond the boundaries of St Andrews, as we outline the methods, resources and structure for examining local cinema.
Links and Contacts
Cinema St Andrews is run by the Department of Film Studies, University of St Andrews. The core project team is:
Dr Tom Rice (Co-Director)
Dr Joshua Yumibe (Co-Director)
Chelsea Wessels (Research Assistant)
Additional entries have been written by Dr Alex Marlow-Mann and by Film Studies students from the ‘Film and the Archive’ module. We are extremely grateful to the following students for their contributions in researching and writing on varied aspects of local cinema history; Emma O’Brien, Jasmine Picot-Chapman, Conor McKeown, Eve McVey, Ioanid Nagy-Vizitiu, Kylie Jeunette, Nadin Mai, Ana Maria Sapountzis, Weixian Pan, Erin Bell, James Erwin, Sarah Mankoff.
The site has benefitted from the support and generosity of a number of archives that have provided information and images for use on the site. In particular, we are grateful to The St Andrews Preservation Trust Museum, St Andrews University Special Collections and St Andrews Museum.
For all questions and comments, please email cinemastandrews@gmail.com. Alternatively you can contact us through the Department of Film Studies.
