Nomad Cinema popped up in the park
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The American trend of outdoor cinema has finally arrived in London. In its first year, Nomad Cinema came to Ealing to give local residents a pop-up cinema experience as part of Ealing’s two-day Summer Series in Walpole Park.
Meena Toor joined the audience:
The Big Top tent on the festival grounds was the setting for Christopher Guest’s ‘This is Spinal Tap’. The atmosphere outside the tent was jovial with people lying on the grass and sitting on the benches in sunglasses. Outside, a bar served cool drinks and there were vendors in their vans offering treats.
The Nomad Cinema team were lovely and cheerful. Thankfully, one team member was positioned in front of the box office and helpfully pointed me in the right direction towards the entrance. The free drink on arrival (a natural juice drink) was a lovely – and, weather-wise, an apt – touch.
Upon entering, the cool shade of the tent and the soft lighting was a relief and we rushed to get good seats among the rows of wooden chairs lining the ground. On the stage came two smartly dressed women in clothes resembling stewardess outfits. Great – these must be the organisers to introduce the event.
Strangely they began to dance and their necklaces began to glow. Ok…Great – this must be the pre-movie entertainment then... But then the screened video joined in and began to show strange images and lights too. Um…I looked baffled at my friend, who looked baffled back.
What was beginning to look like we had entered the wrong event was actually a nonsensical advert for a new way to watch TV. Finally, the movie began.
‘This is Spinal Tap’ is a mock documentary film of a humorous and endearing band off-stage. Watching the breakdown and tensions from failing gigs and an interfering girlfriend, you’d be forgiven for getting sucked into the world of rock and roll touring.
Lines like “you can’t dust for vomit” and “he died in a bizarre gardening accident” reeled off the tongues of rock band members, Nigel Tufnell, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls and caused peals of laughter from the audience.
Following the film, there was a large round of applause from all viewers and a pleasant community spirit as we ambled our way out towards the exit into the park. We could all be happy knowing that the Nomad Company gives one hundred per cent of their profits to the charity, The Sustainability Institute.
The Ealing Summer series ran from 14th- 15th July. Further cinema events run through August and take place in venues like Queen’s Park, Horniman Museum grounds and Fulham Palace. To book tickets, go to www.whereisthenomad.com.
Meena Toor
@journomeena
25th July 2013
