An empty shop in the centre of Bradford is to be turned into a cinema for the start of City of Film.

The ‘Pop-up Cinema’ will run from a vacant unit in Centenary Square on Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20.

Three films – Billy Liar, Fairytale: A True Story and Bollywood musical Om Shanti Om – will be shown between 11am and 6pm on both days. Bradford arts development organisation Fabric is running the free cinema at the unit between Markaz and Starbuck’s.

Gideon Seymour, Fabric’s director, said: “The idea behind the project is to have a cinema in an unusual space. It’s about cinema pervading the city. People can come in and watch a bit, they don’t have to stay for the whole thing.”

Robert Firth, a director at Holbeck Land, which acts as asset manager for the units on Centenary Square, said: “We will be happy to see the cinema there for the start of City of Film. We are hoping to come to an agreement to have them on a longer term, all be it temporary basis, as a ‘meanwhile’ use for empty units.

“We are doing this to try to generate some activity at Centenary Square. We wish Fabric every success with it.”

City of Film will be officially launched at a civic reception on Thursday, March 18, to coincide with the opening of Bradford International Film Festival.

Fabric is also running a ‘People’s Cinema’ at Bradford Playhouse on March 20 and 21 where amateur film-makers will have the chance to show their work on a big screen in the Black Box Studio.

The event will run from noon to 6pm. Send a DVD of the film to Fabric, The Design Exchange, 34 Peckover Street, Little Germany, Bradford BD1 5BD. For more information call (01274) 370291.