Sit back and enjoy the movie, or book
How about a book with your film? Or an exhibition with your cappuccino?
Just a ten minute walk from Notting Hill Gate tube station, Cinephilia West is easy to miss if you’re not in the know.
Run by Yoram Allon, commissioning editor of publishing company Wallflower Press, and his wife, Nicky, it offers a unique blend of bookstore, café, cinema and gallery for film buffs.
Comprising two floors, the upstairs has an outdoor seating area to work, socialise or eat and drink.
Inside, people are glued to their laptop screens, taking full advantage of the free Wifi and sipping hot drinks while sitting at a long white table on benches covered with white imitation fur throws.
Make your self at home
The walls are plastered with Cinephilia’spermanent gallery collection, of rare Polish film posters, including greats such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Empire of the Sun.
The café is on this floor, selling a range of hot and cold drinks, as well as snacks to enjoy while reading some of the specialist film magazines available.
Downstairs, books and DVDs line either side of the room, where screenings are held.
Small framed prints from classic films fill in spaces, for example, Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men.
The different types of moveable seating, including bean bags and sofas, provide a flexibility to Cinephilia that is not available in other bookstores or cinema halls.
“It doesn’t feel like a shop with lots of signs glaring. It feels very homely, very warm and welcoming – almost like a living room,” says Allon.
Allon has been running Wallflower Press – which specialises in books dedicated to cinema and the moving image – for 10 years, and in 2008 opened a bookstore near Brick Lane, now named Cinephilia East, to house an office as well as host a number of high-profile events.
The west London branch was founded after a customer Allon recognised as a serious cinephile offered him a new space in west London to expand the concept in summer 2009.
Cinephilia West opened in September last year.
Cinephilia Westwas developed according to the space available.
While the high ceiling upstairs lends the area to being gallery space, the low ceiling downstairs makes for a perfect bookstore.
Allon says: “There’s a reason why bookshops are usually in basements.
"People like to go down into the store and away from the street.
"Time sort of stands still for a bit so people can browse in a relaxed way.
"The bookstore stocks titles on a number of topics, including individual directors, different genres, and film production, while the DVDs on offer range from narrative feature films, to collections of shorts.
"The demographic of the place says Allon is “numerous and overlapping”, with Cinephilia West already home to several regulars, and awareness growing via word of mouth.
Monthly events
There are also various added perks available by joining the Cinephilia Club.
The membership fee of £10 a month can be cancelled at any point, with members receiving free entry for themselves and a guest to regular events.
There’s also a 10 per cent discount on books and DVDs at the east store, and food and ten per cent off drink at the west.
Events are an important part of Cinephilia West, with a schedule of regular monthly programs run both independently and in collaboration with various cinematic organisations, such as the London International Documentary Festival.
In addition to this, the space can be rented for private events, such as seminars, screenings and also discussions.
Though he has no immediate plans to branch out into other cities, Allon is open to the idea.
Cinephilia does not pressure people to buy, and “opens things up to people” by providing just what people want.
A coffee and gallery or a screening with books about film. Allon says:
“The important thing is sustaining an interest, and that will be the thing that’ll determine if we stand or fall.”
Video by: Max Holloway and Charlene Louka
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