to High Street, Westgarth, after the sale of their original venue (it was later demolished). With the characteristic offbeat nature of the cinema, the last film screened at the old premises was the first half of "The Blues Brothers", with the second half being screened at the new venue after intermission. This caused a traffic jam in Richmond at 1 am. The Valhalla closed its doors in 1996 and became the Westgarth Cinema, after the rental costs of their Northcote site became too high to meet. The owners of the Westgarth cinema building continued to run it, as "The Westgarth", until early 2006. At that point, the cinema business was sold to the Palace Films and Cinemas chain, whilst they retain the ownership of the building. The building recently reopened after extensive renovations and the addition of two more screens. It now screens more traditionally arthouse fare. Ironically, both the expanded number of screens and the films screened have brought it closer to what the Valhalla had always wanted to do with the venue. Other Valhallas Glebe in Sydney was also home to a cinema called the Valhalla, which was very similar to the Melbourne version – they produced a calendar of screenings, for example. The Valhalla in Sydney opened in 1979 when Chris Kiely (one of the original Melbourne Valhalla partners) leased the 1937 Art Deco Astor Cinema. It closed in August 2005. In March 2013, the "Valhalla Social Cinema" began operating in Melbourne. Celebrating the memory of Valhalla's 24-hour marathons, it is operated by Jose Maturana. The portable community cinema does not reside in a permanent location, instead appearing in spaces that are not traditionally associated with movie halls. It specialises in 12- and 24-hour marathons, but also partakes in festival sideshows. Valhalla People The original team of people who ran the Val went on to help run a number of the other independent cinemas in Melbourne. The Nova Cinema in Carlton is partly owned by Barry Peak. In the 1980s Barry Peak and Chris Kiely wrote, produced and directed four feature films: Future Schlock, Channel Chaos, The Big Hurt and As Time Goes By. Some of the managers of various Valhalla Cinemas include Ray Pond, Sue Thompson, Jane Kendrik and Peter Castaldi. External links Palace Westgarth cinema website References 1976 establishments in Australia 1996 disestablishments in Australia Cinemas in Melbourne Culture of Melbourne Organisations based in Melbourne