Modern Times: The 1930s Cinema Experience

In 1912, Sweetingham’s Cinema opened on Silvertown’s Albert Road, close to Lord Street. Later known as the Silvertown Picture Palace, it finally became the Albert Cinema and was a popular location for locals to see the latest films until its closure in 1938. Not far away, in Canning Town, in 1931 two of the 20th century’s most iconic figures met – Mahatma Gandhi and Charlie Chaplin. Their historic meeting was one of the inspirations for Chaplin’s classic film Modern Times.

This June, Performance Infinity (the team behind the Royal Docks-based community arts festival FeastFest) will pay tribute to Newham’s cinema history with an immersive screening of Modern Times alongside a historical workshop and food tasting that will take us back in time to the 1930s and beyond.