If you enjoy films in the open air, Dungeness isn’t that far to go to have a great experience in this beautiful, eerie, easy-to-get-to area. A Rye fan group of Rebel Reel Cine Club meets there once a year when Chris McGill puts on his films at the Snack Shack in the middle of nowhere. There are a few tables and benches but most of the crowd, from Rye and around, bring chairs. As one has to wait until the sun goes down, it gets chillier as the evening cooler air sets in. But most are seasoned fans and bring jumpers, jackets, and blankets.
Everyone provides their own food and drink which is often shared until the film starts. This evening, Sunday August 24, Chris decided to show Ridley Scott’s visually stunning 1982 sci-fi cult classic, Blade Runner. Some people in the audience had seen it when it first came out and loved it, others were not that sure but came for the experience. It was a very futuristic film, dark, disturbing but interesting, not a world to look forward to.
With a backdrop of the nuclear power station, the flashes of the lighthouse and the passing cars, and a clear sky full of stars (even the Milky Way was visible), it was quite an experience. Chris McGill summed up the experience: “What an extra special screening!… What with the UFO that Wendy Carrig saw before the film and the two shooting stars (was there more?) … what a truly magical night it was!”
Rebel Reel Cine Club is a pop-up screening of short and feature films, showing cult classics, art house independents, and forgotten gems, held inside and outside. Films are shown in interesting locations from Dungeness Beach and beyond, to Soho to showings of Nosferatu in a medieval tower – for Chris there are no boundaries. Since 2020, Chris McGill is the owner and co-ordinator, a proven entrepreneurial thinker. He says of himself: “Professionally I am responsive and agile to both short and long term changes and challenges.” For more information go to: www.rebelreelcineclub.com.
Image Credits: Mary & Mick Design , Juliet Duff , Heidi Foster .