Showroom Cinema appoints new Head of Programming

Showroom Cinema, Sheffield’s cathedral of independent film – or, for anyone who hasn’t yet visited, the occupant of the lovely art deco building looming to your left as you leave the train station – has appointed Johnathan Ilott as its new Head of Programming.

Johnathan has over 15 years of experience working in the world of independent cinema, a career spent primarily at The Dukes, a community-oriented theatre and cinema in Lancaster. There, he was responsible for the film programme as well as managing theatre and stand-up comedy events.

In addition to his work in film programming, Johnathan has taught as an Associate Lecturer at Lancaster University, where he is currently completing a PhD in Film Studies. His research focuses on representations of the afterlife in British cinema from WWII through to the COVID pandemic, looking at the ways that film attempts to imagine the unimaginable. Last year he published a paper on folk horror in the Gothic Studies journal. 

As Head of Programming Johnathan will oversee Showroom’s diverse film programme, including seasons, retrospectives, and unique events. He will also be supporting Showroom’s many festivals, including Sheffield Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, and Celluloid Screams. 

Johnathan highlighted the creativity of the team at Showroom, and is particularly excited about the monthly Showroom Spotlight screenings chosen by the cinema’s staff, which are expected to remain a core part of the programme.

When given the admittedly difficult prompt to describe his taste in cinema, or to talk about a film that exemplifies it, Johnathan expressed a fondness for films that are made with real ambition, whether this ambition ends up being perfectly executed or not. He gave the example of The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (1985), a cult Japanese film about a fictional synth-pop duo that he had shown as part of The Dukes’s regular mystery screening series, as something gleeful, messy, unpredictable, and truly unique. This alone is enough to excite us for what’s to come at Showroom Cinema.