Robin Little’s Incredibly Strange Film Library

LUCKY DIP!  ROBIN LITTLE’S INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM LIBRARY

  A SCALA LEGACY EVENT ACROSS THE UK IN SEPTEMBER

FUND-RAISING FILM EVENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH SUICIDE PREVENTION CHARITIES

Opening night for Scalarama Leeds, Monday 1^st Sept
–    Venue: Scalarama, Cardigan Arms.   Time: 18:30

Special London screening on World Suicide Prevention Day
–   Venue: Nickel Cinema, Farringdon.  Date:  Wednesday 10^th Sept.  Time:  18:30

Starting this September, a new nationwide film programme of the acclaimed UK documentary SCALA!!! celebrates the life and legacy of the late Liverpool-born cinephile Robin Little with wild double-bills, Surprise Film screenings, Special Guests, Lucky Dip DVDs for every audience member in a great cult film giveaway, and a donation of film books from Robin’s personal library. The first Lucky Dip!/ Scala legacy event takes place at Leeds Scalarama on 1^st September, followed by London’s Nickel Cinema on 10^th September, with further screenings planned for Lewes, Liverpool and other cities during the month.

Created by Robin’s sister Annabel Little in close collaboration with Jane Giles and Ali Catterall, the filmmakers behind SCALA!!!, this project honours Robin’s passion for cinema, celebrates physical media and community film venues, and raises awareness of suicide

Robin Little was a passionate film-lover, a proud regular of London’s late, great, infamous and influential Scala cinema, and an active participant in Scalarama Liverpool. In his memory, his sister Annabel helped crowdfund SCALA!!!, or The Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced A Mixed-Up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits (2023, UK, 96 mins), the documentary about the iconic cinema from the viewpoint of its audiences released by BFI.

After Robin’s death, Annabel was left wondering what to do with his eclectic DVD library – more than 250 titles majoring on Psychotronic weirdness, cult European arthouse, Italian splatter gore, plus US studio movies, silent film, and more. Now, with the support of the SCALA!!! filmmakers, Annabel has created a legacy project in Robin’s name and in the spirit of the Scala. His lovingly curated collection, compiled with humour, depth and love, forms the basis of this exciting and unique film programme. She is donating Robin’s library of cult film books and magazines to The Nickel Cinema for sale in its shop to support this exciting new independent venue.

This fun and thought-provoking initiative acknowledges the random messiness of life and death while celebrating non-traditional venues, the lost art of the double-bill, the joy of the surprise film and physical media. It also provides a meaningful way to share Robin’s collection, while fostering important conversations about mental health and suicide awareness.

Confirmed schedule for 2025 and beyond includes:

– Leeds Scalarama –  Opening Night,  Cardigan Arms,  Monday 1st September                                            – The Nickel Cinema, London Wednesday 10th September (World Suicide Prevention Day)
– East Sussex Psychedelic Film Club, Lewes (date tba)                                                                                  – Liverpool (venue/date tba)

Jane Giles and Ali Catterall are attending each screening with SCALA!!! composer Barry Adamson is confirmed as the Special Guest for Leeds with the filmmakers in attendance at every show

Profit from the screenings will support suicide prevention charities

Ticket info

Scalarama Leeds –  https://ticketlab.app/event/34775#/
Full details: https://scalaramaleeds.co.uk/listings/2025/

The Nickel cinema, London – https://ticketlab.app/event/34775#/
Full details:   www.thenickel.co.uk

Full Scalarama activities for 2025 can be found here: www.scalarama.com

Follow Scala Club on Instagram  –  https://www.instagram.com/scalaclubcinema

With thanks to the BFI

For press images and further information also programming enquiries contact janegiles13@gmail.com

Robin Little (1969-2021) Born in Liverpool, Robin was a bright, cheeky, clever little boy who loved comics, wrote crazy stories and was even playing the violin at the age of three. He had two lifelong passions: Liverpool FC – for which he held a season ticket for 27 years and travelled to more than 40 countries – and cinema. In later years, Annabel and Robin co-founded an independent wine company beneath a railway arch – a joyful gathering space that supported fledgling food businesses, emerging artists, musicians and performers. Thanks to Robin’s projector, the space also hosted film nights.

As Annabel writes: “He knew everything, went to see everything, and amassed a huge collection. He was kind and gentle. He was funny. And I can’t believe he’s gone. Dealing with the material things that people leave behind is hard, because disposing of them means accepting the concrete reality that they have gone for good. It is even harder to know what to do with things that held special meaning for them, the things they cared about. In this particular case, the saying ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure’ couldn’t be more apt; among my brother’s most treasured possessions were a number of films and books by his hero, film director John Waters, otherwise known as the Pope of Trash. The value [of Robin’s DVDs] turned out to be not so much in the objects that formed the collection itself but rather the care with which it had been curated. How his particular taste connected with others, who on seeing the catalogue, felt like they had met him. Perhaps objects can be important not so much as isolated entities but in the web of connections they set up through their creation and circulation. Giving away my brother’s collection as part of this legacy project for Scala!!! creates a reassuring sense of continuity.”

Annabel Little is an artist and architect based between the Bluecoat in Liverpool and a house in the hills of Emilia Romagna, Italy, working on assorted projects in Milan and London. Her creative practice explores the intersection between art, architecture and performance and she is currently studying for a PhD in Creative and Performing Arts at Liverpool Hope University.

Jane Giles is the Kraszna-Krausz award-winning author of Scala Cinema 1978–1993 (FAB Press), among other book publications. As the Scala’s programme manager from 1988–1992, she took the rap for the cinema’s infamous illegal screening of A Clockwork Orange. She is co-director of the critically acclaimed 2023 documentary SCALA!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-Up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits.

Ali Catterall is an award-winning writer, journalist, and editor whose books include Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since the Sixties (4th Estate) and Kindness: A User’s Guide (Bonnier). A lifelong fan of the Scala, he co-directed SCALA!!! alongside Jane Giles. He is currently writing a memoir about his bizarre childhood.

The Scala Cinema (1978-1993) was an exceptionally atmospheric London repertory cinema which specialized in cult movies and showed over 4000 films to diverse audiences who travelled there from all over the UK. Among the audiences were young people who went on to become famous musicians, writers, artists, actors, activists and filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, Steve McQueen, Jonathan Glazer, Martin McDonagh, Sam Taylor Johnson, Beeban Kidron, Mary Harron and many more. The Scala’s name has come to stand for a certain attitude towards filmgoing and film programming which has resonated with audiences all over the world, as proven by the documentary SCALA!!! which had its World Premiere at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna 2023. SCALA!!! has been shown at festivals in Mumbai, Mexico, Europe, Australia and North America. In the UK it has been released on BluRay by the BFI