Live music, pub quizzes, even comedy nights – these are all welcome but unsurprising events you might find at your local pub. Musical theatre classes for teens, a feminist sci-fi book club and film premieres? That’s the Ivy House.
People have been drinking at the Ivy House for some 150 years, although it was in the 1930s that the pub acquired much of its present character, including its distinctive wood-panelled interiors, grand stage and, most iconic of all, its shimmering theatrical curtains. Through the decades, live music has taken centre stage, from ballroom tunes to the pub-rock scene of the 1970s, with the venue welcoming everyone from Elvis Costello and Joe Strummer to Florence Welch and Fat White Family.
“There’s not really much else around this little bit of Nunhead,” explains Ben Wyborn, the pub’s events manager. “It’s a really important pub for a lot of people and a lot of families.” It was locals and regulars who, in 2012, rallied to save the Ivy House when it faced closure and redevelopment into flats. Their efforts helped secure the building’s Grade II listing and, following a successful fundraising campaign, the community bought the pub in 2013, making it London’s first community-owned pub.
It’s part of the reason the Ivy House’s programming is so varied. “When I’m looking at programming for any of the events we do, the number one priority is making sure that every aspect of the community is represented and catered to,” Ben says. Film has become an increasingly ambitious avenue of that work, with a growing screening programme developed through collaborations with programmers and local groups. “I think there’s a real appetite for it around here,” they say.
One of the longest-standing collaborators is London film icon Steven T. Hanley, founder of Deeper Into Movies. Hanley regularly brings his screenings to the pub, from cult classics like David Lynch’s Wild at Heart to film premieres. I meet him at The Ivy House during the free UK premiere of Pools, followed by a Q&A with director Sam Hayes. For Hanley, the appeal lies in working with “venues from another time that have survived gentrification and all the problems that are coming at small independent venues,” he tells me after the screening, once the crowd has dispersed. “They feel like sacred spaces now.”
Deeper Into Movies began, fittingly, in a Dalston dive bar, where Hanley took over a friend’s VHS screenings. “What do you mean you can show movies in a bar?” he remembers thinking. “There’s a screen. I can plug in the player. Why does it have to be a cinema?”
At the Ivy House, it’s still August, and the heatwave is drawing sweat well into the night. The pub attempts to remedy this with a couple of fans, but they’re slightly too loud and the room is still too warm. Somehow, it’s the perfect place to watch Hayes’ film about young adults navigating uncertainty by sneaking into strangers’ swimming pools. “Watching a film in a pub is not going to be as good as watching a film in a cinema,” Ben admits. “The screen isn’t as big, the sound isn’t as good.” But perhaps that’s beside the point. “You’re not just coming here to watch a film. You’re coming here to chat about the film, film in general, and just chat to people and make friends.”
It’s an idea Ben has been putting into practice with Film School, a screening series born in Portland, Oregon, which made its London debut at the Ivy House with Krzysztof Kieślowski’s The Double Life of Véronique. The premise is simple: watch a film, then stick around to talk about it. Beyond the more traditionally cinephile offerings, Ben has also been working with South London Mind’s Young Onset Dementia Activists group to organise dementia-friendly Friday morning screenings, with Mamma Mia! and Grease among the first selections.
Accessibility is another point of common ground with Deeper Into Movies. “If we can do something that’s free, accessible, and pack out a room for a new movie or an indie or a small movie, that’s more important than it is for us making a ton of money on the door selling tickets,” Steven tells me.
The Ivy House could easily fill its calendar with indie gigs (of which there are plenty!), but that would only cater to a fraction of the people who call it their local. Instead, Ben wants to make sure there’s something for everyone, whether that’s a film premiere, a concert or a Love Island-themed pub quiz (an idea, they tell me, that one of the bartenders is particularly keen to make happen). “We have a responsibility to make sure it’s fun for everyone and everyone can come here and enjoy.”
For upcoming screenings and events, visit ivyhousenunhead.com or follow @ivyhousenunhead on Instagram.
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