MOST can look forward to a night at the movies but, over the next two days, two remote island communities will enjoy the "cinema experience" for the first time ever.
Screen Machine, an 80-seat, air conditioned mobile cinema, equipped with state-of-the-art 3D digital projection and Dolby Digital surround sound, will be parked at the head of the pier on the island of Eigg today.
It will go on to a similar position on Rum tomorrow and will show some of the latest films on release.
Most of the islands' populations are expected to attend, which in the case of Eigg is around 100, but Rum's population (40) could be accommodated twice.
On Eigg, three movies will be shown. First up is the animated film Epic.
This is followed by We Are Northern Lights, which is the result of a unique project in which the people of Scotland were asked to capture their perspectives on film and submit them for inclusion. One submission from an Eigg resident features. Rounding off the day is Man of Steel, a Superman blockbuster.
The Screen Machine follows in the footsteps of the Highlands and Islands Film Guild which, between 1946-1970, took projectors and films to village halls across much of the Highlands and Islands.
But according to Marie Carr, they never made it to her native island of Eigg.
She said: "I can remember back in the 1980s, there was a projector and some films were shown. There was Ring of Bright Water, which we saw four times. The tape ran slowly and made a strange noise, but we thought it was great."
Maggie Fyfe, secretary of the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, said: "We had to get permission to close the slipway as that's the only place we can have it. So once it comes off the Lochnevis (CalMac's ferry that serves the Small Isles), it will park at the head of the pier. There is great excitement."
She said the last film she saw was Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, which came out in 1982. "I saw it in Oban," she added. "I haven't been to the cinema since."
On Rum, the Screen Machine will again show Epic, followed by the Great Gatsby.
The latter may strike a chord with a community who live with the opulence of a bygone age in the form of Kinloch Castle.
Sir George Bullough, a textile magnate, built the Edwardian castle as an ostentatious summer palace with every gadget imaginable. The gardens even contained heated pools for his alligators and tropical turtles.
Vikki Trelfer, the Isle of Rum Community Trust's -development officer said: "We are very excited about the Screen Machine and most of the community will be coming along."
The Screen Machine is owned and operated by Regional Screen Scotland, a not-for-profit limited company with charitable status.
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