Colchester's Odeon Cinema Supports Roman Circus

Description:

The time will be turned back 2000 years as COLCHESTER gets ready to host chariot racing...following along the lines of the classic movie, Ben Hur.

The Odeon Cinema in Head Street, together with the Colchester Archeological Trust are to show the 1959 multi-award winning film which features chariot racing. The reason behind this is to highlight the Trust's attempts to preserve the Roman chariot racing starting gates, which are close to Abbey Field, in Colchester.
 

The Marketing Manager at the Odeon, Mr. Guiseppe Musarra is trying to track down a print of the classic and is hoping to attract 200 people to the screening at the end of May or early June.

He said: “It’s a way of redefining cinema to be more involved in the community and whatever The Trust makes from tickets, it can keep.”

Backed by the Gazette, the "Save Our Circus" campaign, raised £200,000 – the first step to buying the former Victorian Sergeants’ mess, where the circus starting gates are buried.

The Trust need to raise roughly another£700,000 and hopes to do this by having a mortgage, using private developers to use part of the building for flats, and also by lottery funding.

Phillip Crummy, of The Trust, said: “Hopefully, the film will stir more interest in the Roman Circus. We would do a presentation beforehand to explain about the making of the film and to discuss what actual racing chariots would have looked like. If people think the racing in the film looks exciting, the actual chariot racing was far more exciting, and we had it right here in Colchester.”

, 

The film is famous for its high-octane chariot racing scene, with Charlton Heston taking the starring role. It won 11 Academy Awards, only equalled by Titanic and the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

visit the website at www.romancircus.org