The Big Smoke

The evangelicals are back in Walthamstow – and poor Hitch would be turning in his grave.

In 2003, Time Out reported on plans by the Brazilian evangelical Christian group, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God , to convert Walthamstow’s historic EMD cinema (one of London’s finest surviving art deco cinemas) into a venue for their show-biz style religious ceremonies.

The McGuffin Film Society (named in honour of Walthamstow’s most illustrious son, Alfred Hitchcock) had been screening arthouse films at the EMD for several years and they campaigned to save the site as a cinema. As a result, attempts by the church to gain planning permission for their scheme proved unsuccessful. And for a while, it looked as if the site might be redeveloped as a cinema.

But the venue’s future is under threat again, as church leaders recently launched a new bid to persuade local politicians to rubber stamp their plans.

A campaign has been mobilised with a host of celebrities lining up to offer their support, including Mick Jagger, Meera Syal, Tony Robinson, Alan Davies and Alain de Botton. And a decision on the future of the building is expected by the end of the year.

London blogger Dave Hill recently flagged up several similar campaigns: The Picture Palace Campaign has finally won the support of Lambeth council to restore a former cinema in Crystal Palace to its original use.

Meanwhile, the Friends of Clapton Cinematograph Theatre are calling on Hackney Council to revive a venue that was screening movies as recently as 1979 before becoming a nightclub that has since been closed down.

Could London's historic local cinemas be seeing a revival in their fortunes? We hope so.

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