Independent Cinemas
London cinemas with distinctive programming, human-scale auditoriums and a reason to arrive before the trailers.
A good independent cinema is more than a screen. It has a point of view: repertory seasons, documentaries, overlooked new releases, filmmaker conversations and the occasional glorious oddity. These are cinemas where programming still feels like an editorial act and watching a film remains a shared cultural occasion.
15 venues
The Garden Cinema
A beautifully designed Covent Garden cinema with serious repertory and independent programming.
Independent cinema in the heart of Covent Garden showing curated world and independent film.
Explore venue →Bertha DocHouse
The UK's first dedicated documentary cinema: small, focused and indispensable.
Explore venue →The Castle Cinema
A community-restored Hackney cinema with an imaginative programme and a beautiful auditorium.
Community cinema in Homerton showing independent and world cinema.
Explore venue →Rio Cinema
An Art Deco Dalston landmark balancing new releases, repertory and community screenings.
East London's independent cinema in the heart of Dalston, showing world and independent cinema since 1915.
Explore venue →Phoenix Cinema
One of the country's oldest continuously operating cinemas, still independently minded.
One of the oldest purpose-built cinemas in the UK, an independent gem in East Finchley since 1910.
Explore venue →ActOne Cinema
A community cinema that treats local audiences as participants rather than customers.
Independent cinema in Ilford showing Bollywood, world and independent film.
Explore venue →The Lexi Cinema
A volunteer-powered Kensal Rise cinema whose profits support charitable work.
Social enterprise cinema in Kensal Rise, donating profits to a South African community project.
Explore venue →Prince Charles Cinema
Leicester Square's cult repertory institution, built for rewatching films with an audience.
London's leading repertory cinema, showing cult classics, sing-alongs and late-night screenings in the West End.
Explore venue →The Cinema Museum
An archive, museum and screening room preserving the material history of cinema-going.
Museum dedicated to the history of cinema, housed in the former Lambeth Workhouse.
Explore venue →ArtHouse Crouch End
A neighbourhood cinema and arts space with an eclectic independent programme.
Independent cinema and arts venue in Crouch End showing world and independent film.
Explore venue →Regent Street Cinema
The birthplace of British cinema, now restored as a distinctive independent screen.
Historic cinema where the Lumière Brothers first projected film in the UK in 1896.
Explore venue →Ciné Lumière
French and international cinema presented with the confidence of a cultural institute.
The flagship French cinema in London, part of the Institut français du Royaume-Uni.
Explore venue →Watermans Arts Centre
A West London multi-arts centre with a serious independent cinema programme alongside theatre, exhibitions and dance.
Watermans Arts Centre is a multi-arts venue on Brentford High Street — independent cinema, theatre, exhibitions, dance and talks under one roof on the Thames.
Explore venue →Close-Up Cinema
A Shoreditch screen and film library devoted to cinema history, theory and discovery.
Independent film centre in Shoreditch with a curated programme of rare and classic films.
Explore venue →Sands Films Studio
A working Rotherhithe film studio with a tiny cinema and a programme rooted in film history.
Independent film studio and cinema in Rotherhithe, specialising in period and art house film.
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