In 1992 the Noverre Cinema closed its doors for the final time.
In 2026 the Trust is launching a new series of Free Film Screenings.
For more than 40 years, the Noverre served as a popular city cinema which screened a diverse range of films including non-commercial and arthouse releases. Over the last two years The Assembly House Trust worked with Reel Connections to revive one of Norwich’s long-lost cinemas.
For 2026 The Assembly House Trust has organised a new in-house series of Free Film Screenings. Tickets are required for this, book using the links under each listing.
To learn more about the cinema that used to be in the same room go to the bottom of this page, for info about future events and exhibitions please join the mailing list.
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Wed 4 March: Lost in Translation (2003)
Directed by Sofia Coppola
(15), 1hr 42m, English -

Wed 18 March: Strange Way of Life (2023)
This is a short film (31mins), that will be shown before a feature by the same director.
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
(15), 31mins, English
Doors open: 7pm
Film starts: 7:30pm
Bar open: 7:00–8:10pm
Seating is unreserved
Strange Way of Life premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023. It was Almodóvar’s second English language film.
A man rides a horse across the desert to visit Sheriff Jake (Ethan Hawke). Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva (Pedro Pascal), the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship.
This film ends at 8pm then there will be a 5min break before the feature film. Use the booking link under Pain & Glory -

Wed 18 March: Pain & Glory (2019)
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
(15), 1hr 53m, Spanish with English subtitlesStrange Way of Life will run from 7:30–8:00pm. There will be a short break then Pain & Glory will start at 8:10pm
Bar open: 7:00–8:10pm
Pain & Glory made its international debut at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and won two awards: Banderas for Best Actor and Alberto Iglesias for Best Soundtrack. At the 92nd Academy Awards, Pain and Glory was nominated for Best International Feature Film, and Banderas was nominated for Best Actor.
Pain and Glory tells of a series of reencounters experienced by Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas), a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his mother (Penélope Cruz) to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void that creates the incapacity to keep on making films. Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation. -

Wed 8 April: Mauvais Sang (The Night is Young) (1986)
Directed by Leos Carax
(15), 1hr 56m, French with English Subtitles
Doors open: 7pm
Film starts: 7:30pm
Bar open: 7:00–7:30pm
Seating is unreservedMauvais Sang (Bad Blood), also known as The Night Is Young, is Leos Carax's second film. Released in 1986, the film played at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival before being nominated for three César Awards and winning the Prix Louis-Delluc.
Two aging crooks are given two weeks to repay a debt to a woman named The American. They recruit their recently deceased partner’s son Alex (Denis Lavant) to help them break into a laboratory and steal the vaccine against STBO, a sexually transmitted disease that is sweeping the country. It’s spread by having sex without emotional involvement. Alex's desire to become successful leads him to break up with his girlfriend Lise. His life all of a sudden changes when he starts working for Marc and together they plan a big theft.
The Noverre
About The Noverre Cinema
For more than 40 years, the Noverre served as a popular city cinema which screened a diverse range of films including non-commercial and arthouse releases.
Located in a former ballroom at the Assembly House in Norwich, the cinema took its name from the Noverre family who taught classical dance there during the 18th Century.
Prior to the Noverre’s opening, the Assembly House underwent extensive restoration work between 1948 and 1950 for a cost of £70,000. When it re-opened in November 1950 the building was complete with music rooms, a banquet room and exhibition room, in addition to the arts cinema.
A raked floor was installed which accommodated 272 seats. The cinema was well equipped with two 35mm projectors, two 16mm projectors and modern sound installation.
The Noverre is fondly remembered for its Saturday morning kids’ club, seating with plenty of leg room, showing no adverts before films and for not selling ice creams or popcorn. The most popular film it screened was Cabaret, which was shown on 11 different occasions.
The Noverre closed its doors on 23 December 1992.

