Altrincham Film Club is a not-for-profit film club, providing grown-up nights out at the movies to see films that aren’t teenager-aimed blockbusters and don’t require 3-D specs. We value sociability and comfort, and aim to make every film club night one Members and guests can look forward to. We are run by Members for Members.
There’s time and space to chat before and after the films, a licenced bar inside the cinema (that is, right inside our ‘private’ theatre), short films or cartoons like in the old days, and trailers for the films coming up. Sometimes we have had the film’s director at the showing for some revealing Q&A sessions.
How do I join?
Membership of Altrincham Film Club costs £9 per month with effect from January 2023, payable by standing order. This gets you entry to all our screenings with nothing more to pay. And to help spread the word, as a member you can bring one guest for free to one screening each year. If you would like to join just drop us an email to altrinchamfilmclub@gmail.com and set up a standing order for £9 per month to Altrincham Film Club at the Cooperative Bank, sort code 08 92 99, account number 65524495, with something to identify you as the reference.
If you’d like to come but you’re not a member, you can click through from our event listing at The Bowdon Rooms.
We run eleven screenings over the year, with a gap in August. Your membership funds are used only towards the cost of screenings (ie room/equipment hire and film licence) and a tiny wee publicity budget.
What do I get for my membership?
You get the right to attend Altrincham Film Club events while ever you keep paying your monthly standing order. We get enough security to plan exciting events in advance and you get to support a local, sustainably sourced, artisan supplier of nights out for Altrincham.
How do you choose the films?
We get one Mark Elliott to schedule the films. We chose him because of his unerring taste obviously, but also because he is a member of BAFTA and gets sent lots of DVDs to review. He will of course listen to members suggestions – send yours to altrinchamfilmclub@gmail.com.
Where does the money go?
We pay a licence fee to show the film, we buy the DVD or BluRay, we rent the room space, and we hire the needed technology bits. We sometimes provide film-appropriate refreshments for free, and we spend a bit on posters and postcards to bring new people in.
Can I try before I join?
Yes you can, book online at The Bowdon Rooms. After the first showing we will invite you to join as by becoming a member you help to give the Club security of income for planning the year’s programme.
But surely someone in your club knows about marketing and suggested you put together a list of key reasons why I should be a member?
Yup. Being a member brings nice privileges and good feelings: you get to go to the movies in a rather special way, you participate in a community venture for our town, you watch in your own theatre with in-cinema bar, accompanied by your own friends. You get to see films which are wonderful but you may never have heard of (plus shorts and trailers), you can bring guests (and one guest is free each year), you can invite your friends to join and you can join in the conversation afterwards, or at www.facebook.com/groups/altrinchamfilmclub
Have you got any unsolicited testimonials?
Yes we have: “I enjoyed last month’s film so much that I’ve now become a member. Looking forward to the next cinema experience very much indeed. You’ve done a wonderful thing in putting huge amounts of time and effort into setting up this film club. Thanks, JM”
Can I help? And what is it with this question-and-answer format?
Well, we really need someone to write publicity material which doesn’t default to this tired Q&A format all the time, that’s for sure. But any Member who would like to join the committee and help with any other jobs is likely to be welcomed with suspicious eagerness.
Our GDPR policy
– For audit purposes we retain the details of Members who have paid by standing orders, and a record of who has attended which screening. We will never use this data for any other purpose and we will never share it. – We retain a list of email addresses for the purpose of sending promotional material about upcoming Film Club showings. Occasionally we use the list to bring your attention to items we think will be of importance (e.g. changes to the Film Club structure) or interest (eg other events locally) to you. We never give this list to any third parties, and we are accountable to you all for the use of the list. You can be removed from the list at any time by contacting altrinchamfilmclub@gmail.com – We regularly review pooled and anonymised statistics on the use of our website from our provider. The provider makes data available to us that that could allow more detailed tracking of your use of our website but we do not make use of this. We do not make any use of cookies except for the default settings of our web provider necessary for the functioning of the site. We are unable to track your use of any other site, and we have not agreed with any other site to share data on your use of our site. – We moderate a Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/altrinchamfilmclub/. Quite separately from your Film Club membership or details, you may choose to join this Facebook group. We don’t automatically do this for you, and we don’t publish any Film Club membership details there. Membership of this group is public and other people on Facebook can see if you are a member. We do not hold or use any other personal data on you on Facebook. – We sometimes take photos and videos at our showings for use in our marketing. We will never identify you by name. We will always let you know at the time if we are doing this and give you a chance not to be included.