US cinemas to show Nineteen Eighty-Four in anti-Trump protest

Nearly 90 cinemas in the US and Canada are planning to show the film adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, starring the late John Hurt, in protest at President Trump’s policies. The coordinated screenings will take place on 4 April, the date that the book’s central character Winston Smith writes on the first page of his illegal diary.

The organisers of the protest have released a statement, saying: “Orwell’s portrait of a government that manufactures their own facts, demands total obedience, and demonizes foreign enemies, has never been timelier.” According to the statement, the cinemas involved – which include the Alamo Drafthouse chain and New York’s IFC Center – “strongly believe in supporting the National Endowment for the Arts and see any attempt to scuttle that program as an attack on free speech and creative expression through entertainment”.

Winston Smith – a rewriter in the Ministry of Truth – remains one of Hurt’s most celebrated roles. He starred opposite Richard Burton and Suzanna Hamilton in the film, which was directed by Michael Radford and released in 1984.

A full list of cinemas participating is available on the United State of Cinema website.