Housed in the restored Passmore Edwards Old Library on Acton High Street, ActOne is an independent, non-profit community cinema run by a Community Interest Company. The historic building, gifted to the people of Acton and left empty for years, was brought back into use by a group of residents who campaigned to keep developers out and return it to its original role as a community hub. After the lease was signed with the London Borough of Ealing in 2021, a team of more than a hundred volunteers cleared, cleaned and painted the building before contractors fitted out the first auditorium. The cinema opened its first screen on 8 October 2021, with operational support from the Rio Cinema in Dalston, and added a second screen in January 2023, allowing a wider and more varied programme. The venue has two 60-seat screening rooms equipped with modern digital projection, a lounge in the space that once held the children's library, and a cafe serving drinks and snacks. Programming, drawn together with help from the Independent Cinema Office, runs to independent, arthouse and world cinema, documentaries, festival screenings and the occasional mainstream release. Beyond films, ActOne functions as a cultural and social hub. It runs weekly parent-and-baby screenings, relaxed showings for neurodivergent audiences, captioned screenings, classic matinees and pay-what-you-can tickets, alongside live events, open-mic nights and collaborations with local groups. Owned by Ealing Council and run on rent paid by the CIC, the cinema sits on the High Street close to Acton Town and Acton Central stations, with parking nearby. For a district that had lacked a cinema, it has restored both a screen and a working community building, sustained largely by volunteers and members. The building is named after John Passmore Edwards, the Victorian philanthropist whose libraries dot London, and its return to public use was widely covered as an example of community ownership reviving a neglected civic asset. Memberships and donations help fund the cinema alongside ticket and cafe sales, and volunteers continue to staff screenings and events, keeping prices low and the programme rooted in local tastes.

Type: Movie Theater

Address: 119-121 High Street, London, United Kingdom, W3 6NA

Website: https://www.actonecinema.co.uk

Capacity: 120

Opening Date: 08/10/2021

Serves Food