Cottage Road Cinema: Walt Disney Company names Leeds venue's boss in shortlist as 'UK cinema hero'

Charles Morris, head of the Cottage Road Cinema in Headingley, is one of 10 people to make the ‘UK cinema hero’ shortlist after more than 200 nominations were made. He said: “It is most gratifying to be recognised in this way. Cinemas have been my passion but it has been damned hard work and it is nice that it is appreciated.”

Charles has taken a strong interest in maintaining independent cinemas and has reopened many across the country, including the Rex cinema in Elland and the Picture House in Keighley. He also rescued Cottage Road from closure in July 2005.

He said: “We have been well supported and had some good times at the Cottage Road, especially with our centenary celebrations some years ago and the classic films we have screened. But it has been tough at times. It has been especially difficult since lockdown for a number of reasons, principally the choice of films, or lack of, and the change in people’s habits. Everyone says there is ‘nothing like seeing a film on the big screen’, but they need to realise that in order to keep local cinemas alive, they need to patronise them more often than just when the James Bond films turn up.”

The awards have been organised by the Walt Disney Company and the UK Cinema Association to coincide with the release of Empire of Light by British director Sam Mendes. Starring Olivia Colman and Michael Ward, the film is set in and around an old cinema in the 1980s.