BIG screen movies finally return to Walthamstow on Saturday when the McGuffin Film Society opens its new temporary cinema venue.
The film group has developed a screening room at Walthamstow's Plough Inn, Wood Street, to maintain local screenings while the future of the borough's EMD Cinema is determined.
Bill Hodgson, group spokesman, said: "While the new venue is in no way a substitute for the EMD we will now at least be able to cater for local filmgoers while the cinema remains idle.
"Our main objective continues to be for the EMD to be saved and reopened as a first class venue for local people as early as possible."
The film society was originally formed to screen independent and arthouse movies at the EMD and has since led the campaign to save the building from permanent closure.
Six potential bidders are now lined up to take over the EMD Cinema, in Hoe Street, and the McGuffins claim they are continuing to receive enquiries from other interested parties.
A range of options for the future of the cinema are due to be discussed by the local authority during a cabinet meeting at the town hall in the early autumn.
The first film of the McGuffins new season is Stephen Frear's acclaimed 2002 hit Dirty Pretty Things which tells the story of Okwe, an illegal immigrant from Nigeria, who is trying hard to make ends meet.
In the evening he's a minicab driver and overnight he's the receptionist in a seedy West London hotel. He uncovers a lethal criminal underworld that is ruthlessly exploiting the needy, the dispossessed and the desperate.
The gritty film won the Evening Standard British Film Award 2003 and the British Independent Film Award 2003 as well as being nominated for Best Screenplay at this year's Oscars. The film stars Audrey Tautou, Sergi Lopez, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sophie Okenedo.
The screening starts at 8.15pm on Saturday night. Membership of the McGuffin Film Society costs £5 per household per year. People can join up at the website at www.mcguffin.info or send a cheque payable to McGuffin' to The McGuffin Film Society, 458 Hoe Street, London E17 9AH.
