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Telecinema
Festival of Britain building by Wells Coates / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Telecinema was a small cinema built especially for the Festival of Britain's London South Bank Exhibition in the summer of 1951. It was situated between Waterloo station and the Royal Festival Hall.
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The Telecinema was one of the most popular attractions of the Festival, with 458,693 visitors. Many people had to be turned away.[1] When the Festival of Britain ended, the press and public called for its retention,[1] and, following discussion with the London County Council and the film industry, "the building was formally handed over to the BFI for use as a members-only repertory cinema club. It was re-equipped with 400 seats, projection facilities for both 16mm and 35mm, and re-opened in October 1952 as the National Film Theatre.[1] It remained until 1957 when the NFT relocated to a cinema under Waterloo Bridge.