ICO News
- This month we launched the Cinema Of Ideas, our new virtual platform for amplifying different stories through collaboration, discussion and film. Join us for our first event at 7pm this evening, where we’ll be joined by researcher Aleema Gray, curator June Givanni and author Rasheda Malcolm to explore the history and culture of Rastafari women in Britain through D. Elmina Davis’ 1988 film Omega Rising Women of Rastafari.
- Registration is open for Inclusion and Diversity Screening Days! This will be our first fully hybrid event, taking place both in person at Bristol’s Watershed and online. If you need support to attend then we can provide easy-to-access financial assistance to cover costs for passes, travel and digital attendance.
- We are conducting our third industry survey to understand the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the independent cinema sector and identify areas where support is required. If you are a member of staff who makes managerial and operational decisions at a cinema then we want to hear from you. Please take the survey by 5pm, Tuesday 31 August 2021.
- We’re looking for Trustees to join our board! We’re especially interested in hearing from people under 30 and those who reflect more widely the communities we serve across the UK, whether that be through heritage, lived experience or access to opportunities. We will be holding several open Zoom Q&A sessions in September where you can learn more about what the role entails. See details here.
- Not sure how to set up your cinema sound system? We’ve just launched our Introductory Guide to Cinema Audio, an overview of the complex world of modern cinema sound which covers a variety of different formats and set-ups.
- We’ve published a new policy for our jobs board, which we hope will contribute to creating a fairer industry and help employers find the best candidates. In a recent blog, the ICO’s Projects and Business Manager Duncan Carson discussed the thinking behind these changes.
- We’ve welcomed two new cinemas to our roster of programming clients: Totnes Cinema and the newly-opened Reading Biscuit Factory. We’ll be working with these venues to help them create unique, commercially viable film programmes that appeal to the widest possible range of local audiences.
Opportunities
- Applications to the Culture Recovery Fund Continuity Support are now open, providing funding to independent cinemas in England that are in need and have previously received support from the fund. The deadline to apply is Monday 13 September 2021.
- BIFA has launched their 2021 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training programme, which includes courses on Unconscious Bias Training, Anti-Bullying and Harassment Training, and Fair Recruitment and Inclusivity in the Workplace.
- There are currently roles available at The Cinema in the Arches, Catford Mews, Film Hub Scotland, Oska Bright Film Festival, the BFI and more.
- Applications to photogénie‘s Young Critics Workshop are open to aspiring film critics aged 18-26 from Belgium and abroad, offering the opportunity to cover the 48th edition of Film Fest Gent. Apply by 1 September.
- Drawing on almost a century of archive footage, Lost Connections is a new short film that offers a poetic response to the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is completely free for UK exhibitors to book for online or in-venue screenings.
- WunderKammer Live is a new showcase and networking event from Radiant Circus which explores alternative screen culture in London. For their first event they’ll be joined by Club des Femmes, T A P E Collective and The Twelve30 Collective to discuss their recent standout creative projects.
- Open to exhibitors across the UK, the second FAN Conversations event is taking place on 7 September and will explore programming strategies (both in-venue & online) for titles which sit beyond the mainstream and different approaches to growing audiences for such films.
- Missed this year’s Cinema Rediscovered festival? You can now catch up with some of the sessions from the event, including talks on re-issues and restorations, engaging audiences with lesser-known films and the hopes for future film and media archiving.
Good reads/watches/listens
- An argument for digital screeners
- On the fire at the Cinemateca Brasileira
- A brief history of Sheffield’s Anvil Civic Cinema
- On the current repertory cinema landscape
- On the pioneering work of Menelik Shabazz
- Working towards an inclusive cinema culture
- A tribute to actor Yaphet Kotto
- Where to begin with Youssef Chahine
- An interview with Tsai Ming-liang
- The second issue of Caligari Press
- An introduction to queer Korean cinema
- An interview with cinematographer Agnès Godard
- 120 years of Len Lye
- An oral history of Larry Clark’s Bully
- Dea Kulumbegashvili’s early cinema memories at Tbilisi’s Cinema House
- On the intimate work of Jeanie Finlay
Image: D. Elmina Davis. Credit: Elmina Davis Foundation.