Dannevirke’s Regent Cinema’s treat for the community

Zaria Gerber, Maeve Kendall, Dannie Gerber, Caslin Gerber and Indi Kendall with their popcorn, about to enjoy the free community movie Small Foot at the Dannevirke Regent Cinema.

The future is looking good for Dannevirke’s Regent Cinema.

The cinema recently put on a free community movie, Small Foot, with nearly 90 people attending, many of whom had never been to the theatre before, says cinema committee secretary Clare Green.

“We were able to put it on with the help of the Dannevirke Community Board,” she says.

While the movie itself was from a few years ago, some of those who attended had never seen it before and enjoyed the opportunity.

Clare says the feedback to both the movie and the afternoon was “really good”.

“It’s our way of giving back to the community,” she says.

They are planning to do such an event again in the future and would like to see more people attending as the theatre can take up to 170 people.

“Watch this space,” Clare says.

An added incentive might be the fresh popcorn, as the committee have been able to secure a machine to make it on site.

Meanwhile, the volunteer-run cinema is getting a lot of community groups hiring it out for events and even fundraisers.

The committee is working hard to bring in a good variety of movies to encourage people to come along and even more recently was able to put on the Disney movie Coco, revoiced in te reo, for the first time and local schools/kura will be viewing it throughout the month.

The cinema committee welcomes anyone who might be interested in volunteering.

For more information on hiring out the cinema or volunteering, email dvkeregentcinema@gmail.com.

Leanne Warr has been editor of the Bush Telegraph since May 2023 and a journalist since 1996. She re-joined NZME in June 2021.