Free cinema for the homeless opens in Dublin's Temple Bar

A FREE community cinema targeting homeless people in Dublin was launched last night in Temple Bar.

The event took place in Exchange Dublin Co-operative, and opening night included a 10-minute short film and a documentary, Senna, on the life of the late Formula One driver Ayrton Senna. This was followed by a question-and-answer session with the film’s director, Asif Kapadia, via Skype.

Organised by homeless charity Stepping Stone in conjunction with British charity Open Cinema, the event, with a capacity of 40, attracted a small number of viewers. Stepping Stone chief executive Louisa Santoro said they expected attendances to grow as the 12-week season progresses.

“This is a great way to reintroduce people to something we all take for granted as a simple and basic pleasure,” she said.

Christoph Warrack, chief executive of Open Cinema in the UK, said: “It’s a great way of building up people’s sociability and cultural literacy. It’s a very unthreatening space and it has been proven by research to be a great developer of life skills.”

Nicholas James Taylor, who was among those attending yesterday, said he heard about the screening at the Salvation Army hostel, where he lives.

“I’m interested in films and classic cinema and I’m looking forward to this season of movies,” he said.

Open Cinema will run every Monday, with Martin Scorsese’s film Raging Bull featured next week. Doors open at 6.15pm.