A BRYNMAWR cinema is celebrating the ‘extraordinary experience’ of completing a world record attempt of watching Groundhog Day five times in a row.

More than 100 people crowded into The Market Hall in Brynmawr on Friday evening, with a dozen ‘bleary eyed’ cinema-goers achieving the feat of watching the classic film on repeat.

Everyone who completed the endurance challenge was presented with a framed certificate, as they await official confirmation from Guinness World Records.

Peter Watkins-Hughes, cinema director at The Market Hall, said it was a ‘extraordinary experience’ watching the iconic film, starring Bill Murray, on a loop.

“It was a bit of a transformative experience as we went into it thinking it was a bit of fun, and came out thinking it was one of the best films ever made,” he said.

“The more times you saw it the more you see things you missed at first, as there is such a depth to it.”

He added: “It’s the only film where I have gone into the cinema clean shaven and come out sporting a beard. It shows how long we were in there for.”

The record breaking attempt started at 10pm on Friday evening and finished at around 8am on Saturday morning.

Mr Watkins-Hughes, who is from Brynmawr, added: “We started off with more than 100 people, and lost a few of them along the way, but we had 12 people with very bleary eyes but wonderful souls coming out giving us the chance to go in the record books “It was genuinely a fantastic experience. From the second screening we had people clapping along to the music and quoting the memorable lines.”

Ahead of the screening they were wished good luck by Hollywood screenwriter Danny Rubin, who wrote the classic 1993 comedy. Before each screening they also read out messages of support from Mr Rubin and the film’s composer.

“They sent us some fantastic words to read out to the audience,” said Mr Watkins-Hughes.

“When their names were coming up on the screen in the credits the audience was clapping and screaming as it felt like they were our friends after their messages.”

He added that they believed the record breaking attempt had also raised more than £1,000 for the Ty Hafan children’s hospice.