Scala!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits is the story of the legendary Scala cinema, told by its audience of self-described weirdos and misfits.
With its sticky carpets and resident cats, the infamous Scala showed a diverse range of films, from high art to cult classics, sexploitation, horror, Kung-Fu and LGBTQIA+, acting as a refuge in post-punk Britain during the Thatcher years.
Pushing the boundaries of convention, it became an inspiration for future famous creatives, and film programmers (including Sheffield's own Reel Steel).
More than mere nostalgia, Scala!!! is an X-rated love letter and a universal shout-out to the power of cinema (the films, and the buildings that screen them), and how it can create a sense of community for outsiders – a place where everyone is welcome.
With archive footage, eye-popping movie clips, acid-crazed animation and some famous names – including John Waters, Adam Buxton, Caroline Catz, Peter Strickland and Ben Wheatley – Scala!!! is an anarchic, uproarious documentary telling the story of London’s infamous, influential cinema, in a film dedicated to evoking the true spirit of the place and what it felt like to be in the audience.
- Words by
- Joe Harris
- Featured in
- Film picks
