The Reel Experience: Rebel Reel Cine Club
Rebel Reel Cine Club is taking iconic subculture films to amazing places and enhancing guest experience with the art, fashion and music that accompanies the screening
Cinema has changed forever. People are p*ssed off at the price of tickets, p*ssed off at the price of popcorn and p*ssed off that you can pay through the nose to see a film that will be out on Netflix or Prime two weeks later anyway. And p*ssed off that they already pay for that, too.
However, these particular gripes are aimed at the larger chains, while smaller, boutiquey independent cinemas have been busy adapting. They are ditching the 4D vibrating chair for, well, the vibes. The cosier old-school experience, the added extras, the glass of wine or beer allowed into the auditorium. While Covid saw the influx of outdoor and drive-through cinemas, many of them have disappeared as quickly as they had arrived. And with the rise of on-demand streaming services, the silver screens have had to do more to put bums on seats. But taking the interactive experience of cinema to a whole new level is Chris McGill, founder of the Rebel Reel Cine Club.
Started as restrictions began to ease during the pandemic, Rebel Reel has screened timeless classics and cutting-edge films - many that are often considered part of counterculture or challenge societal norms. Yeah, so? What’s new? Well, Chris not only finds locations befitting the films he is showing but also develops the creative and interactive nature of visiting one his screenings. From adding DJs to the night, displaying local artists’ work and even having live interviews with directors and producers of the films, Rebel Reel is quickly becoming very popular. But more than that, it’s becoming a community, where lovers of film - including the likes of Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and singer Sara Varga - can meet to have an immersive experience.
“We did Derek Jarman’s Jubilee (1977) on the Jubilee and had like 180 ex-punks come along!”
The evening included a live interview with actress Jenny Runacre as well as a tribute to iconic punk Jordan by burlesque dancer Helene De Joie, Chilean short film and, of course, the obligatory, commemorative event badge.
“In Withnail, when they’re walking across the hills and stuff, being at Westwell just adds to the consciousness of it all.”
There has even been a screening of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), which was meant to take place in trendy biker venue Bolt in Stoke Newington but had to be moved across town to a railway underpass, although 140 bikers still turned up.
“I always used to do screenings, just for my mates, in appropriate places,” says Chris. “It enhances the film.”
It started with a showing of The Small World of Sammy Lee (1960), a film set in the vibrant Soho of the 1960s, starring Anthony Newley. In this film, The Blue Posts pub on Berwick Street in London makes an appearance and Chris was inspired to rent out the room upstairs - which incidentally turned out to be a former practice room for The Rolling Stones.
And this pushed Chris to explore even more venues that would enhance the showings. And what was something of a hobby - the first screening, only 11 guests turned up - quickly became an opportunity to put his passion for films into the live event arena.
“I’ve always watched films,” he says. “I remember my mum used to wake me up to go downstairs and watch the helicopter scene from Apocalypse Now or something similar. And then be, like, ‘Right, off to bed!’, but my mind would be completely buzzing obviously because of the insane scenes!
“But I just love films, but also I kind of like bringing the artists in as well, showing short films and things like that.”
In Kent, Rebel Reel Cine Club has already garnered quite a following after multiple screenings on the open plains of Dungeness. Propped up next to the Snack Shack at the Dungeness Fish Hut, Chris has shown the 2019 film Bait about a struggling fisherman, which deals with the tensions between locals and tourists against a backdrop of second homes, short-term lets and gentrification.
“My mate who lives in Dungeness was like ‘You can’t show that, it’s a bit too close to home… but Kelly, who owns the place, is a bit wicked and she said ‘Yeah, go on, do it!’. So we did and it was just brilliant.”
A chance encounter led Chris to showing at uber-cool vineyard Westwell Winery near Ashford. Led by Moshi Moshi Records founder Adrian Pike and illustrator wife Gaia (who goes by the name Monstrous Pencil), Westwell became the next destination for Rebel Reel in the county.
“It’s just at the bottom of the Pilgrims Way, en route to Canterbury,” says Chris. “You can stand at the top of the vineyard and look across the whole county, it’s beautiful.
“They just said ‘Can we just screen between the vines here?’. Which is exactly what I was thinking.”
Of course, this became the perfect venue for a screening of 1987 out-in-the-countryside-disaster classic Withnail & I starring Richard E. Grant.
“Somehow, seeing a film on a 20-foot screen, when it’s outside, just adds to it… if it’s the right film,” says Chris. “In Withnail, when they’re walking across the hills and stuff, being at Westwell just adds to the consciousness of it all.”
Chris created a special Withnail bingo card for guests to fill in as they went through the film.
“It’s just enhancing the whole point of coming to a screening of a film that’s quite old. So often people say ‘Oh yeah, I’ve never seen this film and I’ve kind of always wanted to’, or they haven’t seen it for 20 or 30 years.”
During the showing of iconic horror The Wicker Man (1973) at Westwell Wines for Halloween, Chris sought out works from folklore artist Ben Edge and Museum of Folklore director Simon Costin and showed them on screen before and after the film, while Adrian Pike DJd a folk-horror vinyl setlist.
“We are showing The Warriors soon,” says Chris. “And I messaged the costume designer of the film, Bobbie Mannix, on Instagram to ask if I could show off her original designs before the screening. I ended up speaking on the phone with her and she sent me all the costume sketches and woven badges she had made for each gang! It’s insane! Sometimes I think if you just ask people they’re really happy to be involved!”
The sold-out screening of 2014’s Northern Soul at Dalston’s Rio Cinema coincided with the 50th anniversary of the iconic Wigan Casino and Chris, amazingly, offered up a chat with director Elaine Constantine and star Elliot James Langridge prior to the screening, while DJ Shaafi (Heart of Soul Peckham) and Lucienne Cole (Crawdaddy! soul club) played afterwards.
“Often people who have been to one screening will come to another, even if it’s miles away,” says Chris. “I make a badge for every screening and I love that kind of sense of community.”
Going into 2024, Chris is looking for new locations in Kent, as well as new short films from the county’s film-makers. So, if you’re interested, get in touch through the details below. If you’d like to visit a Rebel Reel show, preliminary dates for 2024 include 10th February Valentine’s Screening at Westwell Wines, followed by shows on 11th May and 24th August. He will be back in Dungeness on May 9th and 10th as well as August 22nd and 23rd.
