The unusual love affair between Quentin Tarantino and a Nottingham cinema
Despite the numerous controversies that he has created both through his films and his actions, Quentin Tarantino is still considered an icon of modern American cinema.
His provocative and frequently ultra-violent oeuvre is celebrated around the world, but despite having such a dedicated following in other pockets outside of his home nation, his stories are very much American in nature. The stories he tells are all centred around American topics or the country’s history, and aren’t the sort of thing you’d usually associate with the UK, which is often depicted on screen as being a comparatively sleepy setting.
However, before he’d turned himself into a beloved director, he somehow managed to develop something of a connection with the city of Nottingham, even going as far as to establish a strong relationship with an institution that has simultaneously become the East Midlands city’s most established independent cinema.
Opened in 1839 as the Broad Street Wesleyan Chapel, Broadway Cinema has always stood as a landmark within Nottingham’s Hockley area, but when it was turned into a centre of education in 1959, it began its transition into the place it is known as today, establishing itself as part of the city’s creative heart as a hub for the arts. In 1990, Broadway Cinema came into existence, and only a couple of years after its formation, it began running its annual ‘Shots in the Dark’ film festival.
Over the course of the 1990s, the festival celebrated numerous crime, mystery and thriller films, inviting the likes of Shane Meadows and John Woo along to screen their work, and it was in 1992 when a then-unknown Tarantino first became associated with the festival. Adrian Wootton, Broadway’s then artistic director, had supposedly read a review of his debut film, Reservoir Dogs, and developed a keen interest in speaking to the creator, something he evidently made his mission.
After forcibly introducing himself to Tarantino at the Cannes Film Festival later that year, where the film was being screened as part of a showcase, Wootton begged Tarantino to come and show Reservoir Dogs as part of ‘Shots in the Dark’, to which the director obliged. In 1993, he would finally find his way to Nottingham to screen the film and found himself falling head over heels for the cinema.
Shortly after his initial appearance at the festival, Tarantino began to work on his follow-up feature, Pulp Fiction, which Wootton was personally invited out to Hollywood to spend time on set during the creation of. It was here that a plan was formulated to get Tarantino, who was now established as a result of Reservoir Dogs’ instant success, to return to ‘Shots in the Dark’ to show off his new project, and despite not having been announced, Pulp Fiction ended up making its unofficial UK premiere at the festival.
Tarantino’s love for the festival was clear, with him personally transporting the reel of Pulp Fiction from Cannes to Nottingham so he could show it at the 1994 festival. He later told the Nottingham Post about his admiration for Broadway’s commitment to programming, stating, “I come here because I really like the festival. Seeing the different movies and hanging out with all the people here, who I have got to know a little bit, is fun.”
It’s an unlikely friendship to have formed at the start of what would become an illustrious career, but it’s also a touching story that shows just how much Tarantino cares about cinema and the curation of independent film festivals, and just how much of an institution Broadway has become in Nottingham since it was founded 36 years ago.
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.