The moment I learned about the Bristol IMAX, I thought, “this would make a really interesting film.” A massive cinema, purpose-built to show the ultimate format of IMAX 70mm — sitting in the heart of a city with a thriving film culture — somehow totally forgotten, yet perfectly preserved and intact. That contradiction fascinated me. But what really pulled me in was the story of its revival: not by a corporation, but by ordinary people who brought it back to life as a community-run space. That felt rare, and urgent, and worth capturing.

 

I’d lived in Bristol for nearly a decade before I even heard there was an IMAX here. I knew the building — a big cylindrical red-brick structure by the harbourside — but as it was right next to the aquarium, I had just assumed it was a giant fish tank. That assumption, I later found out, was surprisingly common!

 

It had been over 12 years since a film was shown there, and for many people, it had simply vanished from memory. That act of cultural forgetting — and what it meant for a city that otherwise seems to champion cinema — fascinated me. To see it reopen — not as a profit-driven venture, but as a space reclaimed by the people — felt quietly revolutionary.

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At a time when cinemas across the country are struggling to survive, and where cultural spaces are increasingly vulnerable to commercial interests, The Big Picture flips the narrative. This is a story about underdogs beating the odds — a reminder that sometimes, the little guy gets to win. That’s the kind of story I want to tell.