University of Westminster - Double feature

A campaign has been launched to revive a historic cinema on London's Regent Street with the help of a £1 million donation. In 1896, the cinema, then known as Marlborough Hall - part of the Regent Street Polytechnic - was the venue for the UK's first public display of moving pictures. The cinema closed in 1974, and the venue was later used as a lecture theatre by the University of Westminster. Now, a donation from the MBI Al Jaber Foundation has kick-started Westminster's £5 million fundraising campaign to restore the venue as a working cinema, showcasing student work and experimental film from around the world. It will also be used as a lecture theatre.