‘However, it was the memories people shared of visiting the Dominion over the decades that touched us. It was very uplifting when we were seven months in with no funding.’ Covid-era cinema funding schedules can be criticised. It was, after all, 5th July when the UK government’s ‘world-leading £1.57bn rescue package’ for Britain’s ‘world-class cultural, arts and heritage institutions’ was announced. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden claimed such institutions were ‘the lynchpin of our world-beating and fast-growing creative industries’. But it took four months to slice the world-conquering pie: £59m for Scottish culture and heritage became £31.5m for culture, then £15m for the Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund; and finally, on 3rd November, £3.55m for the ICRFF. Other buoyancy aids kept cinemas afloat while accountancy overran arts. There were grants, Bounce Back Loans, ‘super’ tax deductions promoting equipment purchases, and extended rent protections. Furlough, says Alastair, ‘was a godsend’.
Film by Jamie Wills Page 79