Venue 2 Cambridge House, Bradford (Bradford Movie Makers)

The Venue (and the People)

“Bradford Movie Makers is one of the oldest amateur filmmaking clubs in the world. Once a thriving community, these days the membership is dwindling and the group struggle to keep the wolf from the door.” (IMDB)

Having seen the BBC Storyville documentary A Bunch of Amateurs, a funny but affectionate look at trials and tribulations (and triumphs) of the Bradford Movie Makers, we had a feeling that their base at Cambridge House might make an ideal setting for the Wuthering Heights Rediscovered exhibition. The Movie Makers themselves couldn’t have been more welcoming, and we ended up doing a couple of talks at their wonderful cinema room upstairs as well. 

Clearing the space downstairs ready for the exhibition, we had help from the guys who are as enthusiastic and accident prone as they are in the documentary! We noticed a small display of old photographs of the club in bygone days and incorporated that into the exhibition itself. We also picked out some of the old cameras and placed them between some of our displays. Again, we realized that each of our shows will be infused with the atmosphere and artefacts of the locations in which they are set, and this was reinforced by how much of the movie makers own paraphernalia fed into the exhibition.

The cinema room itself was a treat to be in, a space imbued with dark reds under a low, arched ceiling, this was the first time we’d seen photographs from A V Bramble’s Wuthering Heights on a screen and they looked wonderful.

We were helped, entertained, shown magic tricks and kept hydrated by a stream of cold lemon squash by everyone and we hope that we’ll be returning there for more (mis)adventures.

Their website ( https://www.bradfordmoviemakers.co.uk ) has a little about their history, about the Bunch of Amateurs doc, and links to some of their own films. There’s also a link where you can donate to help keep their club (founded in 1932) up and running.