Lido & the Return of Cinemas
Written by Ellis Curmi, with photographs by Ally Jones from Lido Cinemas
Like many businesses across Melbourne, cinemas were hit hard during the COVID-19 lockdowns. With limited to no ability to host moviegoers at their venues, many including Glenferrie’s own Lido Cinemas put films on hold or created alternatives to the typical movie experience.
Many films which were scheduled for release at the start of 2020 are still not out in cinemas more than a year after their initial release date, such as the highly anticipated ‘No Time to Die’. The latest entry in the James Bond series has since been rescheduled for release on 8 October 2021 - and many other films have followed suit. In the meantime, other films such as Disney Pixar’s ‘Soul’ have skipped cinemas altogether and been released straight to streaming services.
Despite the adversity, during lockdown Lido Cinemas created its very own Isolation Film Festival, a competition for all filmmakers to compete to win free movie tickets for a year with both an under-18s and over-18s winner. The rules were simple: all films were to be created at home following the strict isolation requirements during April and May 2020. We received a whopping 350 submissions across Lido and our sister cinemas, Classic and Cameo. You can watch the winning films for free at Lido at Home, our very own streaming service.
Lido at Home hosts a huge number of films both new and old, including those from Lido’s annual film festivals like the Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) and Children’s International Film Festival (CHIFF). Viewers can choose either to rent or purchase individual films and special offers for Lido members. Lido at Home is here to stay, available at athome.lidocinemas.com.au.
Now that the cinemas are open again, there are many reasons why you should return to the big screen (and not just for the delicious popcorn and choc-tops). Lido Cinemas is back and better than ever. We are currently hosting unique film collections to attract audiences both new and old back to our cinemas to re-discover their love for the silver screen. Current collections include cult classics, David Lynch and Hitchcock retrospectives, and many more.
Over the last few months, things at Lido are picking back up steadily due to film festivals, retro titles, and the Oscars. Academy Award-winning films ‘Nomadland’, ‘Minari’, and ‘The Father’ have been hugely successful. I highly recommend every one of them, but ‘The Father’ in particular was my personal favourite. New release films are slowly being screened.
Most recently, the long-awaited film ‘A Quiet Place Part 2’ was finally released after its postponement due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. This is a fantastic start. We too can not wait for the release of James Bond alongside Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’ and Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
For more information, visit: lidocinema.com.au
