Leeds Hyde Park Picture House celebrates 110 years with screening of fascinating archive film

November 2024 marked 110 years since the Hyde Park Picture House opened its doors to the public, just a few months after the onset of World War I.

To celebrate the anniversary, the cinema bosses have teamed up with Yorkshire Film Archive to present ‘Leeds on Film’: a mixture of fascinating archive footage made in and around the city.

Your Leeds is a city steeped in film history, with the first ever moving images shot on Leeds Bridge in 1888 by Louis Le Prince.

The specially-curated screening is being held later this month and will take the audience on a trip through time with a rich and varied mix of footage revealing parts of Leeds long forgotten, to events still fresh in everyone’s memory. It brings together footage from some of those early pioneering filmmakers alongside the films of enthusiastic cine club members, amateur home movie makers, plus award-winning regional TV programmes, all steeped in local events, people, places and a rich slice of everyday life in Leeds.

The screening features the building and opening of Lewis’s in the 1930s, the new Leek Street flats at Hunslet Grange, the popular Flowers for Leeds festival and the huge Children’s Day events in Roundhay Park in the late 1950s. The film also takes a look at the glory days of Leeds United and the Leeds Rhinos in the 1970s, West Indian carnivals as well as student life in Leeds.

It's a unique opportunity to experience some truly wonderful and rarely seen archive material, curated and presented by the Yorkshire Film Archive.

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Graham Relton, Yorkshire Film Archive Co-Director and Manager, will be on hand to provide introductions and context to the clips that document the ways in which Leeds has developed over the decades.

Graham said: : “It’s always a pleasure to present a screening in the place where I grew up, and being back at the beautiful Hyde Park Picture House makes it extra special. I’m looking forward to sharing over a century of Leeds life captured on film – come and join us for a celebration of this vibrant city!”

Wendy Cook, Head of Cinema at Hyde Park Picture House said: “As the Hyde Park Picture House celebrates its 110th birthday, we’re excited to be transporting our historic, gas-lit auditorium back in time, with the help of our friends at the Yorkshire Film Archive.

“Each film in this special programme is a treat in its own right, and we’re delighted that Graham will be joining us in person, to guide audiences through this ever-popular compilation of local archive footage, suitable for film and history fans of all ages.”

Leeds on Film, presented by the Yorkshire Film Archive, takes place at the Hyde Park Picture House on Sunday, December 8, at 5pm. Tickets are £9.50, £7.50 concessions, and can be booked via the Hyde Park Picture House website: hpph.co.uk/films/leeds-on-film