Oxford cinema’s fight for future to go before Parliament

Community-owned cinema Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP), a community-owned cinema off Cowley Road, is under threat of closure under its current contract.

Its landlord, Oriel College of the University of Oxford, is not willing to extend the lease beyond 2037, UPP has claimed.

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It emerged that Oriel College provost Baron Neil Mendoza, who is the chair of Historic England and a member of the House of Lords, worked to block the Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP) in Jeune Street being declared an Asset of Community Value (ACV), a status that grants protection from development.

Instead, the college wants to include the Grade II listed building in a ‘Fifth Quad’ development plans when the lease expires.

Supporters of the independent cinema launched a campaign to save it from redevelopment, and Labour MP for Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds, threw her weight behind the campaign last month.

A petition to save the community space this week reached more than 20,000 signatures.

A demonstration outside the Ultimate Picture Palace (Image: Zoe Broughton)

Now, the Labour MP will warn Parliament of the threat the cinema faces at an Adjournment Debate on Monday evening (April 20).

Ms Dodds will say that she is speaking “to highlight the case of the Ultimate Picture Palace in my constituency, and the need for government support for community assets”.

Describing the UPP as “the only remaining independent cinema in Oxford” and “a real landmark on Cowley Road”, she will praise its community‑owned model.

“At a time when thousands of community assets have closed, the Ultimate Picture Palace stands as a reminder that a different model is possible — and that it works,” she will say.

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Ms Dodds will explain that despite having planning permission and funders keen to support vital improvements, the cinema cannot proceed with them because “funders’ requirements for a long‑term lease are not being met”.

The Ultimate Picture Palace (Image: The Ultimate Picture Palace)

“But herein lies the problem,” she will tell the House of Commons.

“The landlord for this community‑owned asset, Oriel College, will not commit to such a long‑term lease, apparently because of the building lying within the plans for the proposed ‘Fifth Quad’.

“The idea of the cinema being used for this purpose strikes me and local residents as very strange,” she will add, given that the cinema is Grade II‑listed and “one of the oldest independent cinemas in England”.

Ms Dodds will urge Oriel College to reconsider and grant the cinema the long‑term lease it needs.

She will also invite the minister, who will respond to her contribution, to come and visit the UPP to experience the magic of community-owned cinema. 

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Executive director of The Ultimate Picture Palace Community Cinema, Micaela Tuckwell, said: “I very much welcome Ms Dodds raising this important issue facing Oxford’s only independent cinema and highlighting the enormous challenges faced by community assets.

“The Ultimate Picture Palace is a treasured local cultural heritage asset loved by generations of Oxford’s filmgoers for its exceptional programming and unique historical presence in the heart of the East Oxford community.”

She said an ‘alliance’ between the college and UPP would provide a ‘multitude’ of benefits to the community, on top of saving the cinema.