Union Films鈥� the award-winning film society of Southampton University Students鈥� Union鈥� have won the opportunity to host the UK premiere of The Disappearance of Alice Creed鈥� starring Gemma Arterton (St Trinian鈥檚鈥� Quantum of Solace鈥� Clash of the Titans)鈥� after a popular vote by UK cinema鈥揼oers.聽The screening takes place at 7pm on Tuesday 20 April.
Fans logged onto Facebook and installed an application that allowed them to vote for their favourite cinema. Union Films triumphed after a tightly fought campaign that saw Southampton Union Cinema vying for votes with eager cinemagoers in Bury. Users were rewarded for encouraging friends to take part and vote. Union Films mobilised students by offering the most active application users Season Passes to the cinema, and enticing them with the possibility of seeing rising star, Gemma Arterton, on campus.
Jacob Deane of Union Films says of their win: 鈥淲e are extremely excited that the UK premiere of The Disappearance is coming to our cinema. It is an amazing opportunity for us, especially as we are a film society run entirely by volunteers. The Union Films team put on a great campaign, including our website, posters, emails and taking over a sizeable chunk of the Student’s Union homepage. It is a testament to the enthusiasm and support of our members and the Southampton University Student’s Union that we were able to gain enough momentum to take the top spot.鈥�
Southampton took 43% of the vote whilst runner-up Bury registered 22%. There were over 7,000 active users across the duration of the campaign in 181 different cinemas across the UK, indicating that the demand to take premieres outside of London is high across the country.
Gemma Arterton, J Blakeson (the director) and Marten Compston will be among the celebrities on the red carpet at 6pm on the red brick area of the Students鈥� Union concourse (weather permitting).
Tickets are free and will be available from the SUSU box office on Monday 19 April from 10am for those who voted for us. Bring your University ID as there is a list of everyone who voted! Tickets will be one per person only. If tickets are left by the end of Monday, they will be made available to everyone on Tuesday morning from 11am.