Good Shepherd Studios has shown over 30 films and hosted multiple Q&A sessions with leading directors since the launch of its cinema in 2023, writes Marco Marcelline
An independent community cinema in Leytonstone is celebrating its second anniversary with a screening of a Hitchcock classic.
Bushwood community space Good Shepherd Studios launched its cinema venture in 2023, and has since shown over 30 films and hosted multiple Q&A sessions with leading directors.
Films that Good Shepherd Studios has shown include Jimmy’s Hall, directed by the award-winning director Ken Loach, among many others.
Co-founder and co-director of Good Shepherd Studios, Jake Green, established the on-site cinema as an extension of his work with Leytonstone Loves Film, a Barbican-supported initiative that champions community filmmaking.
Various community film groups help to curate the cinema’s programming, and since October 2023, Good Shepherd Studios has hosted the Slow Film Festival, billed as the only film festival in the world dedicated to duration in moving image art.
Speaking about the cinema, Jake said: “Our aim is to create a platform for screening underrepresented films and to celebrate the creative spirit of Leytonstone. We want to foster a vibrant, supportive community around film.”
The cinema’s upcoming programme includes a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, on 19th June.
The film will be followed by a Q&A session with local historian and Hitchcock expert Gary Lewis.
Meanwhile, on 17th July, Good Shepherd will screen The Line We Crossed, which tells the experiences of climate activists who were caught on the wrong side of the law in recent years.
This film will also be followed by a Q&A with its director Liz Smith and Walthamstow-based climate activist Trudi Warner, who the then Conservative government attempted to prosecute in 2024.
Good Shepherd Studios is an independent volunteer-led coworking and community space run by three local people. In 2020, the building (formerly known as The Good Shepherd Building) was saved from being developed into flats following the activism of a group of Leytonstone residents.
Tickets and full listings are available via the Good Shepherd Studios website
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