Cinema Under the Stars was born in summer 2003, a magical outdoor movie experience in front of The Forum. Cinema City and the Cambridge Film Festival teamed up with The Forum Trust to start a trend towards summer alfresco film viewing in Norwich.

To celebrate 25 years of Cinema City, visitors were offered two nights of movie viewing under the stars, starting with a selection of short films and documentaries made in the East Anglia region by local filmmakers and followed by a Hollywood blockbuster. 

Cinema Under the Stars was repeated two years later in 2005, sponsored by Proton. The programme lasted four nights and included classic war stories commemorating the 60th anniversary of World War II and family favourites. The supporting programme celebrated Norfolk on film across the ages, including a sneak preview of entries into the Norwich International Animation Festival.

"Cinema City wanted to create a landmark event to help celebrate its 25th anniversary so teaming up with the Cambridge Film Festival to host outdoor screenings outside one of Norwich’s major landmark buildings seemed the logical thing for us to do. The Forum was the ideal venue and the events proved successful for all concerned."
Steve Forster, Publicist to Cinema City.