Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2011 | Page 42

INTERVIEW

Life through a lens
Bob Ennis was just 10 years old when
he bought his first film projector and
used his garden shed as his ‘cinema’ to
show school mates a short clip of film.
Bob recently celebrated his 80th
birthday, and throughout all those
years his passion for the silver screen
has never wavered. But at the same
time he has kept fully in step with all
the massive inventions and innovations
that have changed the face of the film
industry since he was a kid.
His studio is full of memorabilia
from days gon e by. But sitting
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alongside it is all the latest state of
the art equipment, underlining his
determination not to just dwell on the
past.
Since moving to the Island in 1974
he has been responsible for discovering
and reproducing historic clips that
would have otherwise been lost forever.
His amazing collection includes
film of horse buses on Ventnor and
Shanklin seafronts in 1906; the Cowes
Regatta of 1914, and the first clip of
the Isle of Wight railway system, shot
in 1928. And recently archive film of

the Freshwater line was also unearthed
to add to the incredible collection.
Bob is also a key player in the
ever-popular Medina Movies, which
screens ‘grown up films for grown up
people’ – often very different from
multiplex offerings – two seasons
a year, which invariably attract a
full house. Medina Movies, based
at Newport’s Medina Theatre, has
just started its 21st anniversary
celebrations with films every
Wednesday evening.
Bob recalled: “It all started in 1941