This is a photograph of rows of empty cinema seats inside Genesis Cinema's main auditorium.

SCREEN NEWS: Further easing of COVID-19 restrictions postponed to 19 July in England

The UK government has announced a postponement of further easing of COVID-19 restrictions until 19 July 2021, keeping capacity restrictions in place for cinemas & other screen venues.

By RADIANT CIRCUS // Twitter @radiantcircus / Instagram @radiantcircus

I’m writing this more out of a sense of blogging completeness than assuming anyone uses RADIANT CIRCUS as their primary source of information about COVID-19…

However, with that in mind, a delay until 19 July will put many screen venues and exhibitors under further economic pressure as capacity restrictions will stay in place. For those venues not yet fully open for live events (of which there are a number…), the planned easing off of furlough funding (requiring business to make a higher contribution) may similarly add to their concerns.

Watching this evening’s news conference (just finished…), Boris Johnson explained “now is the time to ease off the accelerator” to give the vaccination programme a greater chance of success. He repeatedly described the new date of 19 July as a “terminus date” rather than a “not before date”. Without getting into the rights or wrongs of this analysis in any way, the subsequent questions by the media highlighted the potential future challenges to such confidence…

We’re still keeping track of venue reopening dates and the many ways you can support them in our venue A-Z. Also, our Revive The Dark campaign is still going ahead, raising money to help DIY exhibitors return to projecting so that London can continue to enjoy a diverse and distinctive alternative cinema scene.

See you in the darkness (if you’re able to get there),

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

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*THE SMALL PRINT: Opinions author’s own. // As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any errors. Updates & corrections will be made to the online version only. // Event dates/times/formats are subject to change by the venue/organiser. Events may already be sold out at the time of posting, so please click quickly. // We try to list as many original format screenings as we can (8 to 70MM), but sometimes formats change due to age of the print, availability, logistics etc, so please check ahead with your venue if the format is your thing. // All images are used in the spirit of fair use for reporting & review – no ownership is implied or intended / unless otherwise credited to RADIANT CIRCUS as the original rights holder. We will remove any images immediately upon request – just get in touch. // We don’t filter our listings by age/certification: all readers & subscribers should therefore be 18+. // Finally, we always try to follow The Carny Code by “not screwing up anyone else’s game”, but everyone can make mistakes… If something does go wrong, we will always do our best to put it right. //.