My friend Peter Howden, who has died aged 80, was a programmer at independent cinemas in London, with notably long tenures at the Everyman in Hampstead and the Rio in Dalston.
His career first took shape at the Electric cinema in Notting Hill, west London, in the late 1960s, from which point his programming helped to influence the direction of other London repertory cinemas, with the Ritzy in south London and the Scala in north London both taking their cues from what he had been doing out west.
Peter’s period at the Everyman (then, like the man himself, a stand-alone independent) lasted from 1981 to 1998, during which time he refined the alchemic art of the double-and-triple-bill, often adding in midnight screenings and Q&A sessions. He lived in a flat above the auditorium with his cats, and as well as being the cinema’s programmer was its sometime projectionist, accountant and manager.
After a year out, from 1999 he became chief programmer and chief projectionist at the Rio, where we met after I had applied unsuccessfully for a projection job there. Characteristically, he offered to train me anyway, and I soon discovered what a treasure trove of cinematic knowledge he had in his head.
Peter was born in York, amd his father worked in the local Rowntrees factory. After gaining a history degree at Sussex University, where he was a leading member of the student film society, his first job was as an administrator with Contemporary Films, an independent distributor specialising in foreign arthouse movies. In his spare time he also worked as a projectionist-for-hire, showing horse races on 16mm in private apartments for rich people to gamble on.
After moving to the Electric cinema he progressed via the Everyman to the art deco Rio, where he started as chief projectionist and soon became its main programmer, remaining in that role until his death.
In 2009 the Rio was named independent cinema of the year in the Screen awards, and also won the marketing initiative of the year category for successfully attracting young people back to the cinema. But Peter rarely liked to take credit for such successes, preferring to work invisibly behind the scenes to little fanfare.
Above all he just loved the world of film. Although he had stopped smoking Rothmans many years previously, he still very much enjoyed the aroma of cigarette smoke, purely because he associated it with the cinema, and perhaps because it evoked old Hollywood. He once confessed to me that he would happily listen to James Mason, a fellow Yorkshireman, reading the phone book all day. In general, however, he was a very private person who rarely talked about his personal preferences and could never be accused of over-sharing.
He is survived by his long-term partner, Wallace Kwong.
