\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.tcocdn.com\/tco\/images\/The-Arzner.jpg\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Walk\u00ading to Bermond\u00adsey from Lon\u00addon Bridge, you pass through a\u00a0long tun\u00adnel. \u200b\u201c<\/span>Am I\u00a0going the right way?\u201d you might think to your\u00adself, but you forge on, even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly emerg\u00ading from the dark\u00adness, out into the open. The same prin\u00adci\u00adple can be applied to your des\u00adti\u00adna\u00adtion at the oth\u00ader end: The Arzn\u00ader. As the UK<\/span>\u2019s first LGBTQ-focused cin\u00ade\u00adma, The Arzn\u00ader pro\u00advides a\u00a0ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded space for queer rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion on screen, a\u00a0dark screen\u00ading room in which greater under\u00adstand\u00ading of your\u00adself and oth\u00aders can come to\u00a0light.<\/span><\/p>\n An invit\u00ading pres\u00adence in the cen\u00adtre of Bermond\u00adsey Square, The Arzn\u00ader opened its doors in April. Through its floor-to-ceil\u00ading win\u00addows, a\u00a0styl\u00adish, spa\u00adcious and home\u00adly bar area can be seen, and it\u2019s evi\u00addent at first glance that they\u2019re proud to be so vis\u00adi\u00adble. This build\u00ading has a\u00a0long his\u00adto\u00adry as a\u00a0cin\u00ade\u00adma space, and part of the site con\u00addi\u00adtions is that it remains one. \u200b\u201c<\/span>I live around the cor\u00adner, and I\u00a0used to come here when it was a\u00a0cin\u00ade\u00adma before\u201d says co-founder Simon Burke, whose back\u00adground is in hos\u00adpi\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty. Piers Green\u00adlees, the oth\u00ader half of the equa\u00adtion, comes from the film world. On the fes\u00adti\u00adval cir\u00adcuit over the years, he would see great LGBTQ<\/span>+ films debut and res\u00adonate with audi\u00adences, and yet they\u2019d fail to fil\u00adter down to gen\u00ader\u00adal audi\u00adences. \u200b\u201c<\/span>Queer films will always strug\u00adgle to get onto the big screen, because stu\u00addios don\u2019t believe that there\u2019ll be an audi\u00adence for them,\u201d reflects Green\u00adlees. \u200b\u201c<\/span>They\u2019ve got to be packed with big names or mas\u00adsive sto\u00adries \u2013 they can\u2019t just be sim\u00adple, relat\u00adable sto\u00adries that a\u00a0lot of audi\u00adences can con\u00adnect\u00a0to\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The pair\u2019s first ven\u00adture \u2013 near\u00adby queer-focused pub and events space The Ris\u00ading \u2013 opened last year to warm recep\u00adtion. When the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to do some\u00adthing with the Bermond\u00adsey Square cin\u00ade\u00adma site came up, it was a\u00a0no-brain\u00ader. \u200b\u201c<\/span>Film is a\u00a0tough busi\u00adness, but the added focus on this being a\u00a0cock\u00adtail bar makes it a\u00a0more com\u00admer\u00adcial\u00adly viable space, which I\u00a0think is what the pre\u00advi\u00adous man\u00adage\u00adment strug\u00adgled with.\u201d says Burke. Along\u00adside the expect\u00aded sta\u00adples, The Arzn\u00ader serves up a\u00a0for\u00admi\u00adda\u00adble selec\u00adtion of charm\u00ading\u00adly-themed cock\u00adtails, each named after impor\u00adtant fig\u00adures in LGBTQ<\/span>+ cin\u00ade\u00adma his\u00adto\u00adry, rang\u00ading from Mar\u00adlene Diet\u00adrich to Wong Kar-wai.<\/span><\/p>\n The Arzn\u00ader \u2013 both the house cock\u00adtail and the venue \u2013 are named after Dorothy Arzn\u00ader, a\u00a0sem\u00adi\u00adnal fig\u00adure who from 1927<\/span> to 1943<\/span> was the only female direc\u00adtor in Hol\u00adly\u00adwood. The deci\u00adsion to chris\u00adten the venue after her came after a\u00a0lot of thought and con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. \u200b\u201c<\/span>It was impor\u00adtant for us to have a\u00a0les\u00adbian voice,\u201d says Burke. \u200b\u201c<\/span>No queer cin\u00ade\u00adma is wide\u00adly dis\u00adtrib\u00aduted enough, but les\u00adbian films haven\u2019t been as cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded as those focus\u00ading on the gay male expe\u00adri\u00adence. Dorothy Arzn\u00ader was pub\u00adlicly out for her entire career, and that was impor\u00adtant to me, along with how much of an impact she\u00a0had\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Green\u00adlees and Burke haven\u2019t come across a\u00a0sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly LGBTQ-ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded cin\u00ade\u00adma venue any\u00adwhere in the UK<\/span>, or even in the US<\/span>, and no one that they\u2019ve spo\u00adken to knows of an equiv\u00ada\u00adlent space either. \u200b\u201c<\/span>In the same way as you have a\u00a0ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded French cin\u00ade\u00adma in Lon\u00addon in the Insti\u00adtut Fran\u00e7ais, you have us for queer cin\u00ade\u00adma\u201d says Greenlees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion and con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion are at the core of what the Arzn\u00ader team is build\u00ading, hav\u00ading already fos\u00adtered strong rela\u00adtion\u00adships with dis\u00adtrib\u00adu\u00adtors that focus on queer titles such as Pec\u00adca\u00addil\u00adlo, Out\u00adplay, and TLA<\/span> \u2013 and they\u2019ve begun dia\u00adlogues with London\u2019s coterie of queer cin\u00ade\u00adma spe\u00adcial\u00adists about future pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties. The key to The Arzner\u2019s dream, and the like\u00adli\u00adhood of their suc\u00adcess, is that they don\u2019t want to sup\u00adplant what\u2019s already been built in the cap\u00adi\u00adtal by film clubs such as Pink Palace, Bar Trash, and Funer\u00adal Parade, but instead to pro\u00advide a\u00a0home for queer cin\u00ade\u00adma that exists year-round.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nGet more Lit\u00adtle White\u00a0Lies<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n