Hull Screen's last film was shown at its Albion Street home on December 23 and a new programme of films was to have begun next Thursday at a lecture theatre at the University of Lincoln's George Street campus, just a short distance away.
But the cou
ncil has now been offered a £75,000 digital projector, putting it on a par with artshouse cinemas in York and Sheffield.
It means films shot on an ordinary digital camcorder can be shown and opens up possibilities for more burgeoning filmmakers to screen their work.
Digital copies are cheaper than standard 35mm celluloid prints, and the UK Film Council, which is setting up a digital network throughout the country, believes it will help broaden the kind of films shown.
But there will have to be work to the outside of the George Street building, including installing extractors, and planning permission will have to be sought.
No-one yesterday could put a date on when Hull Screen was likely to reopen.
A spokesman for the Moving Image Consortium said: "It's rather unfortunate but we are still full of hope for the future. Everyone wants to see it open as soon as possible."
The council had been on a waiting list for the projector, but was told it had not got one.
The council's head of cultural services, Brian Hayton, said: "Out of the blue at the end of November appeared a letter saying 'you are on the first reserve list and you are now up for a projector'. It looks like we are going to have one but we are going to have to do more modifications to George Street, which is where the planning consent comes in.
"Once it is in we will be able to show pretty much any format.
"It is a spanner in the works but a beautiful spanner and the benefits of having one are going to be fantastic."
Hull Screen – one of the oldest regional film theatres in the country – was at the Central Library in Albion Street for 36 years.
Consultants connected with Sheffield's successful The Showroom and Workstation, a business centre for companies in the cultural and media industries, have been preparing a report into the state of cinema in the city. They are due to report to officers next week.
