This New Pop-Up Is Taking Retro Cinema to Brisbane's Most Unlikely Venues

New cinemas might keep opening around Brisbane, but the city's latest film venture isn't your usual picture palace — it's a pop-up taking retro movie screenings to different venues around town.

Launching on Saturday, June 9, FilmHouse will host its first session — a screening of iconic documentary Grey Gardens — at East Brisbane's Mowbraytown Hall. Future events will take place at similar spots throughout the inner city and surrounding suburbs, particularly focusing on the types of places you wouldn't normally expect to see a movie.

"The places we're looking at, they're locations that you wouldn't necessarily turn into a cinema," explains Portia Hunt, who created FilmHouse with local projectionist Michael Brooks. Drawing upon their time working in Brisbane cinemas — Hunt has a background at Palace and New Farm Cinemas, while Brooks' vast experience also includes Brisbane's CineRetro Society, as well as working with Brisbane's various cinemas and film festivals — the duo is eager to add to the variety of film events happening around the city.

That includes expanding the cinema-going experience beyond simply sitting down to view a movie, courtesy of themed events and parties. "We want people to go watch a film and enjoy the film, but we want to create a party atmosphere as well — with post- and pre-film events," remarks Hunt.

FilmHouse plans to use a different venue for each screening, with sessions initially held every few months as Hunt and Brooks works towards a regular monthly lineup. They're keen to build their program around their audience, and welcome feedback about what they should be offering. "With this first screening, we'll hopefully get a sense of what kind of audience we have, what kinds of events we'll be able to create, and get an idea of what people want," says Hunt.

Still, movie-wise, viewers can expect a range of things, including rare flicks and possibly sessions using 35mm prints. "Our programming is going to be full of variety," Hunt advises. "We want to screen much-loved cult classics, film noir, Australian and foreign films, and more mainstream content, such as those family-friendly crowd-pleasers — but, more importantly, we want to screen films that don't get screened too often."

The first FilmHouse screening takes place at 6.30pm on Saturday, June 9 at Mowbraytown Hall, 26 Mowbray Terrace, East Brisbane. For more information — and to keep an eye out for future screenings — head to the FilmHouse Facebook page.