Social cohesion | Impact Areas | The Bigger Picture

Inclusive Cinema tasks cinemas to take anti-racist action with launch of new toolkit

By National

The BFI Film Audience Network’s Inclusive Cinema has launched a practical guide for improving the cinema experiences of ethnically diverse audiences, and staff, which challenges institutions to make good on their Black Lives Matter and anti-racism statements from 2020.

CineQ Queer Film Festival

Starting as a community cinema operating in Birmingham, CineQ seeks to grow appetites and audiences for Queer and LGBTQIA+ films whilst champion New Queer Cinema in the region – with a focus on the perspectives of Queer Trans and Intersex People of Colour (QTIPOC)
CineQ has now grown into a two day festival supported by BFI FAN Film Hub Midlands.

Strategic Interventions

Targeting low areas of provision in the Midlands, Strategic Interventions delivered activity in collaboration with on-the-ground partners to provide sustainable, better connected, more visible, and a more ambitious film scene.

Collective: Connecting more people to great films

By Film Hub South West

In Northern Ireland, a scheme called Collective was initiated, designed to “showcase the collective nature of our network, and the collective power of exhibition, distribution and production working together”.

Drag artist Grace Oni Smith poses in character as Hedwig before a performance on the Live Cinema UK tour

Cabaret & Hedwig and the Angry Inch on tour

Live Cinema UK and Make a Scene put on an all-singing, all-dancing, cult, queer movie show for BFI Musicals!

How audio description (AD) can help make titles and venues even more accessible

By National

This World Sight Day (8 October), Megan Mitchell of Matchbox Cine writes about the importance of audio description (AD) tracks for blind audience members, and why by not including them venues and distributors are potentially ignoring 2 million customers.

BIFA launches ‘This Is Our Cinema’ marketing campaign for British Independent Film

By National

BIFA has launched an always-on campaign to support British independent film. The campaign will begin with advertisements on social channels aimed at encouraging young audiences to return to cinemas to watch British independent film, supported by an ongoing organic campaign on BIFA’s channels.

Strange Worlds, Changing Utopia, Victoria Park Productions

Strange Worlds, Changing Utopias Film Season was an originally curated season celebrating archive film and dynamic new stories exploring the pressing issues of our past, present and future. The season aimed to respond to the most important issues facing society today: people and the ever changing relationship to our environment.

Into Film: No Barriers to Cinema for young d/Deaf audiences

A doubleheader of educational special events from Into Film celebrating language, communication and d/Deaf cultural identity.

Leytonstone Loves Film

Leytonstone Loves Film was a two-day celebration of film taking place at the end of September 2019. It was commissioned by London Borough of Waltham Forest and produced by the Barbican leading a consortium of film organisations to celebrate International Film culture and explore the unique cinema legacy of the local community and environment. There were two days of family programming, including screenings of multiple shorts and features as well as workshops and activities.