Although the old village hall in Ashwellthorpe had sometimes shown Norfolk archive films in the past, it held successful film evenings - organised by its Village Hall Committee, Autumn to Spring c. 2010 to 2020 on occasional Friday/Saturday evenings. Four villagers were trained as pairs of projectionists  - Morris Bushell/ John Preston; and Brian Mondin/Gordon Robbie. Tickets were always sold at £4 in advance and £5 on the night with attendances of near 40 and each film making a profit for village hall funds after the film-hiring expenses etc. It showed mostly A-listed films usually within a couple of months of their general release and had its own large screen which was sited up on the stage. The old village hall acoustics seemed well-balanced and clear, mainly owing to its wooden roof, so the sound was good too. The films were ordered from Moviola and Village Screen and other equipment needed was provided by Creative Arts East, then with a base in Wymondham, which is a local authority- and Arts Council-funded organisation that enables various cultural activities - in this case Cinema - to become more accessible to various groups of people.

The COVID pandemic and its restrictions put an end to the regular film-showing in the old Village Hall in Spring 2020 and, since then, the hall has become Bramble Bears Playgroup and, unfortunately, the new community Hall - Thorpe Hall - has not continued with this form of village entertainment and support. Other local village halls have taken up this idea and have regular film evenings.

Here are the films shown from 2010 onwards:

2010 October       The Ghost (Writer) with Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan 

2010 November    My Name is Khan with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol

2011 February        Made in Dagenham with Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins and Miranda Richardson

2011 October         The Athlete a portrait of the Marathon runner Abebe Bikila

2011 November    Senna documentary film with archive footage of Ayrton Senna and many other motor racing personnel

2012 October       The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Ronald Pickup,  Maggie Smith, Tom WIlkinson, and Penelope Wilton

2016 February        Suffragette with Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, Helene Bonham Carter

2016 September    Florence Foster Jenkins with Meryl Streep and Hugh

2016 October         Learning to Drive with Ben Kingsley and Patricia Clarkson

2016 November     The Man who knew Infinity with Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons

2017 February        I, Daniel Blake with Dave Johns and Hayley Squires

2017 March            Deepwater Horizon with Dylan O'Brien, Kate Hudson, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, Kurt Russell, Mak Wahlberg

2017 April               A United Kingdom with David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike

2017 September   Hidden Figures with Octavia Spencer, Taraji P Henson, Janelle Monae

2017 October       The Zookeeper's Wife with Johan Heidenbergh, Jessica Chastain, Daniel Bruhl and Timothy Radford

2017 November   Whisky Galore with Gregor Fisher, Eddie Izzard and James Cosmo

2018 January       Victoria and Abdul with Judi Dench and Ali Fazal

2018 February     Hampstead with Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson

2018 March          Goodbye Christopher Robin with Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie and WillTilston/Alec Lawther as Christopher Robin aged 8 ad 18

2018 April             Film Stars Don't Have To Die in Liverpool with Jamie Bell, Annette Bening and Julie Walters

2018 September The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society with Lily James, Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton

2018 October      On Chesil Beach with Saiorse Ronan, Billy Howle and Samuel West

2018 November  The Bookshop with Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson

2019 February     Madame with Toni Collette, Harvey Keitel and Rossy de Palma

2019 March          Bohemian Rhapsody with Rami Malek

2019 April            Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again with Meryl Streep/Lily James, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth

2019 October      Rocketman with Taran Egerton and Jamie Bell

2019 November  Yesterday with Himesh Patel and Lily James

2020 March        Judy with Renee Zellweger [cancelled due to COVID pandemic]

Other films booked for Spring 2020, also cancelled, were Downton Abbey and 1917. The film club did not restart.