Lisa Moravec
Sent an identity card, a fake name, profession and an age – these are the lengths that organisation Secret Cinema go to, to keep their whereabouts, as the name suggests, a secret.
The email that is sent to cinema-lovers only includes a time, the place and a dress code and there are no other clues as to what will be happening next.
This is the concept of Secret Cinema. People buy tickets online to watch a film without knowing which one and where this will take place. Just a couple of days before the screening an email is providing them with necessary information to find to the place.
Eleven years ago, Fabien Riggall, wanted to make the cinema experience more social, so Secret Cinema was founded and opened its offices in London.
Secret Cinema created a new approach for the cinema experience. It encouraged people to participate actively in a screenplay, which is linked to the story shown in a film later on.
“I had no idea that the experience would be so interactive. They are trying to embody real-life into the cinema experience,” said Andrew Rowe, a third year drama student, who went to a previous Secret Cinema screening and watched the film The Red Shoes.
Do not be surprised if this is the first time you have heard of Secret Cinema. It is still relatively unheard of with only 20,000 people who have participated in the secret experience so far.
“People are coming again and again,” said one of the actors who played the part of a prison officer at a recent screening.
“They are putting so much effort in,” said a female visitor, “this is my third time and I love it.”
Tickets can be purchase online.