The Rio cinema at 50
Rosie Greatorex, executive director at the Rio, talks about her hopes for the future of the iconic Dalston cinema
The exterior of the Rio cinema today
“Community cinema should be accessible for everyone and reflect the people it is serving,” says Rosie Greatorex, executive director at the Rio Cinema.
2026 marks 50 years of the Dalston institution being run as a non-profit organisation by the community. To celebrate, Rosie and her team have put on an impressive six-month programme called ‘Rio Forever’.
Rosie explains: “Rio Forever is going to run until November 2026. As part of the programme, we’ve asked guest curators to choose a film from our archives and present it to today’s audiences.
“Dalston has seen a huge amount of change in 50 years, but a lot of the audiences that we find represented in the archives are still the audiences we are serving today.
“We’ve always been a cinema that serves our working class audience. We want to make sure we’re here for everyone.”
Check out more posters from the Rio cinema’s huge archive
Rosie cites many of the Rio’s film festivals that reflect Hackney’s community – from Queer East and the Kurdish film festival to carnival-related programming and the Tibet film festival.
She continues: “My hope for the future of the Rio is that we continue to serve all of these different audiences and continue to work in this collaborative way.
“We want to be powered by our archive, and protect our archive, because our heritage is so important – but it also informs our programme.
“My long-term dream is to open up the space above the main screen and create another screening space. The Rio is an institution and it means a lot to people.”
Watch a video about the Rio Forever anniversary
Rio Forever programme highlights
7 May, 6.30pm: LITTLE WHITE LIES PRESENT: A CELLULOID SURPRISE ON 35MM
See a mystery film on 35mm film print, which has been hand-picked by a member of the Little White Lies editorial team.
8 May, 7pm: ASIF KAPADIA PRESENTS: THE GODFATHER: PART TWO, ON 35MM
Oscar-winning film director and homegrown Hackney hero Asif Kapadia introduces a rare 35mm print of one of his favourite movies.
13 May, 6.30pm: QUEER EAST PRESENTS: THE FANTASY OF DEER WARRIOR
Actors dress up as animals in this inventive Taiwanese curiosity from 1961, in which the happy lives of the forest animals are shaken when a pack of wolves suddenly attacks.
19 May, 7pm: MOLLY MANNING WALKER PRESENTS: PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE
‘Punch-Drunk Love’ is Paul Anderson’s ode to the Hollywood screwball comedies of the 1940s.
22 May, 8.30pm: DIONNE EDWARDS PRESENTS: BOUND, ON 35MM
Rio patron Dionne Edwards will discuss one of her own favourite films – the Wachowskis’ boundary-pushing neo-noir thriller ‘Bound’.
29 May, 8.30pm: APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR WITH DESIREE AKHAVAN AND CORRINA ANTROBUS
‘Appropriate Behaviour’ plays with the familiar conventions of the New York romcom to tell the story of Shirin, a bisexual woman of Iranian descent.