Off grid micro-cinema
The Cinema Barge (on Fiodra) is a fully off-grid 20 seat micro-cinema. The HD Projector, sound and safety systems are powered by batteries charged each day by solar panels. The heating is supplied by a wood burning stove!
Presenting canal and waterways related films The Cinema Barge operates on the southern British waterways. Locations vary from new developments to old pubs and wharfs.
Visits to the Cinema Barge are always unique. Presentations include a pre-show talk about the film and its relation to canal history. Staying for a post show chat and drink is encouraged. We have a small bar and gourmet popcorn available. Just like a real cinema!
I loved the venue ... and what you're doing with the boat. And the films were a joy ...(Joe Butler 2019)
"Just been to see Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic on Barge Fiodra - brilliant evening. Fab film, amazing venue, lovely company -)))"
"On Fiodra in the snow, which was a bit magical. The projection was wonderful. The film itself is captivating. Camerawork, photography, music, plot and subplots were often taking my breadth away (literally). Everyone in the audience loved it (BR - private screening of L'Atalante)
Canals and film
British canals feature as locations in many films, but there are only a handful that make the canal life central to the story. My aim, on Fiodra, is to bring these films to new audiences who are fascinated by canals and to those of us who live and work "on the cut"
Film selection 2019
Tides (2017)
Subtle, honest and packed with humour, TIDES is the arresting debut feature of Tupaq Felber, which premiered at London Film Festival in 2017. Shot in black and white in real time over a few days and loosely scripted in a collaborative effort with the cast, Felber's unique, naturalistic approach brings a refreshing edge to British film, and with TIDES creates a visually striking and truthful observation on friendship.
Anchor and Hope (2017)
Sassy salsa teacher Eva lives on a canal boat with her girlfriend Kat and their beloved pet cat. When the feline passes away, Eva develops strong yearnings to raise a family but Kat is less enthusiastic about adding another person to their cramped living arrangements. Good friend Roger visits Eva and Kat on the boat and during a drunken late-night conversation, he floats the idea of being a sperm donor. Soon after, Eva and Roger act on this quickly conceived plan.
Swandown (2012)
Swandown is a travelogue and odyssey of Olympian ambition; a poetic film-diary about encounter, myth and culture. It is also an endurance test and pedal-marathon in which Andrew Kötting (the filmmaker) and Iain Sinclair (the writer) pedal a swan-shaped pedalo from the seaside in Hastings to Hackney in London, via the English inland waterways.
Albatross (2018) London Premier on Barge Fiodra
Centred on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific, this film documents both the poetry of the albatross, and the devastating impact on them of plastic waste. The film is directed by Chris Jordan, an internationally acclaimed artist whose work explores contemporary mass culture from multiple perspectives, connecting the viewer viscerally to the enormity and power of humanity’s collective unconscious.
“I want people to watch this film and feel sadness and rage and realise that comes from a place of love. Don’t pull the plug out of the bathtub just yet; don’t let all that raw emotion drain away. Once you feel love, you can be more courageous and make more radical choices.” Chris Jordan.
The Bargee (1964)
Harry H Corbett and Eric Sykes star in this classic comedy about the life of a canal bargee. Look out for shots of the Grand Union Canal in Hemel Hempstead and Apsley among the plentiful canal footage. The film, scripted by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and depicts taking a cargo-carrying pair of narrowboats up the Grand Union to Birmingham. There are some brilliant comedy lines in this old British film. The lead character is called Hemel, as his parents were moored at Hemel Hempstead when he was born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bargee
Painted Boats (Ealing Studios - 1945)
Directed by Charles Crichton this fictionalised documentary, provides a rare extensive filmic depiction of a long-gone way of life on England's working canal system in the 1940s. “Part documentary, part light romance, part propaganda. It is also quite possibly the most beautiful depiction of English canals on film you will ever see.” (Amazon review)
- We obtain commercial screening licenses for all films from the relevant distributor.
- A Temporary Events Notice (TENS) is submitted to the local authority for each venue
- Fiodra is registered as a food business with Dacorum Borough Council. Food Hygiene Rating 5
- Fiodra is licensed by the Canal and River Trust as a Roving Trader
- Safety Risk Assessments are made at each location/venue
- Fiodra has a commercial Boat Safety Standards certificate
- Fiodra is insured for public performances
Film programmes have been supported by:
