A FILM, which was first viewed by its directors in a Worcestershire cinema around 60 years ago, is to be screened there once again.

Gone To Earth is one of a number of films being screened at the Regal cinema in Tenbury Wells, as part of the Borderlines Film Festival.

It was shot in Shropshire by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the late 1940s and the pair viewed the rushes at the Regal.

At the time, stars David Farrar and Jennifer Jones also stayed at the Swan in Tenbury, which is now closed down, and locals became film extras.

Borderlines director David Gillam said: "I feel proud that Borderlines can bring a beautiful British classic like Gone To Earth back to the cinema where it was very first seen. It feels like we're making a circle complete." The Regal cinema recently opened in time for the festival, which is Britain's largest rural film festival, following last summer's devastating floods.

Tenbury joiner and cinema enthusiast Ben Bydawell said: "A group of us stepped in last year to ensure continued film shows at the Regal. It's an Art Deco classic, one of only two with its Italianate murals still intact in the country and it's been in operation since 1937.

"After an enormous amount of effort we opened in June 2007 but on the day we were due to show our fourth film the cinema flooded. The auditorium disappeared under nearly five feet of water, most of the seats were ruined and, when the waters receded, it was obvious the piano would never play again."

Now, after nearly 10 months of restoration, the Regal is back in action. "We are delighted and relieved to have the cinema back in commission after all the damage," said Mr Bydawell.

And Mr Gillam said: "We've lost a great number of small town cinemas in the past two decades.

"So, it's fantastic to have a beautiful old cinema like The Regal joining in Borderlines Film Festival which goes from strength to strength attracting more and more people to a wider variety of films each year."

Borderlines Film Festival will see 75 films screened at 25 venues across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, between Friday, March 28 and Sunday, April 13.