Welcome back to your monthly round-up from the ICO, featuring the latest opportunities for your cinema, festival or film society and industry highlights from the UK and beyond.
ICO News
- ICO Autumn Screening Days passes are on sale now! The programme of key upcoming films is starting on a high with Richard Linklater’s love letter to the French New Wave, Nouvelle Vague. This is one of our most popular events; register now to join us in Phoenix, Leicester (15 and 16 November) and online (17 to 23 November)!
- Make your film festival or venue stand out to sponsors and financial partners with Developing Your Sponsorship Strategy, a new short course for BFI FAN members, created by the ICO. Apply now to brush up on the key principles of building partnerships with expert speakers, including a Q&A with Jennifer Frees, Chief Business and Marketing Officer at Toronto International Film Festival.
- Emerging and established film producers who are keen to learn more about sales, distribution, and exhibition should keep an eye on the ICO website for a new paid development programme, which will be announced next week!
- We were delighted to see the BFI’s recent announcement that they’re using an increase in National Lottery funds to uplift support for their BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund over the next three years by 21% and also investing more in the BFI Film Audience Network. Read our full response on LinkedIn.
- Celebrate working class film talent and audiences with Uncommon Voices: Exploring Class in New British Cinema. This new selection of contemporary short films explores working class Britain as it is and imagines itself to be, spanning documentaries, flights of fancy and realism. Get in touch to discuss bringing this programme to your venue.
- The ICO blog is open now for pitches which share insights on a range of topics such as accessibility, audience development, and new exhibition initiatives. If you have an idea for an article that you’d like us to commission, please read our blog guidelines and get in touch.
Resources, Opportunities and Events
- The BFI Sustainable Screen programme is running three free peer-to-peer learning sessions on sustainability. The next session (2pm on Thursday, 21 October) will focus on environmentally sustainable indoor events with guest speakers from Julie’s Bicycle, and is available to book now.
- Film Hub Scotland has released a new edition of the Accessible Cinema Bulletin, created by BFI FAN’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion, Charlie Little. This edition covers upcoming events and ongoing resources that film exhibitors can utilise to become more inclusive and accessible for Deaf and disabled audiences.
- Film Hub North has published a glossary of key terms which frequently appear in relation to sustainability funding, with the aim that cultural organisations and those in the screen sector can use these when making applications for capital-based funding.
- Film Hub London has gathered news, events, and resources aimed at helping more FAN members connect with young audiences. This will be a regularly updated resource, so make sure to bookmark the page for future reference, and if you have experience working with young audiences or are a young audience member yourself, Film London would love to hear from you!
- Film Hub Wales has resources and supporting materials available for an exciting new Made in Wales release: Brides.
- CICAE is asking exhibitors across the world to join their call to champion the future of independent cinemas, and to recognise and protect independent cinemas as places of critical infrastructure and lasting value.
- The ZAMEK Culture Centre in Poznań invites you to take part in the third edition of the Forum Without Barriers, accepting case studies, presentations, panels, and workshops which explore accessibility in film culture. Apply by 31 October to take part.
- Transforming Film has published a guide to supporting trans professionals in the screen industries, with practical advice informed by lived experience to ensure that workplaces are inclusive and empowering for trans professionals.
- To celebrate 20 years of Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, a selection of films from this year’s festival programme will be available to stream from 17 to 26 October! Passes cost less than £5 and also include filmmaker Q&A recordings and a video postcard from Sam Kenyon capturing the spirit of Berwick in 2025.
- The Guardian is asking those involved in volunteer-run film societies to share their experiences as part of celebrations to mark 100 years of UK film societies.
- Join Indigo Ltd for an informal lunchtime Zoom on Thursday, 16 October to learn more about Indigo Share Subscription, Indigo Share Discover, and how they could bring you closer to your audience.
- CIISA has published their first piece of user-led research, exploring what people want to see when deciding whether to report a concern to CIISA as an independent third-party.
- The Film and TV Charity has written a blog on why they support cinema, as well as the support and resources available for those working in exhibition.
- Registration is now open for the 10th edition of European Arthouse Cinema Day, which will take place on 23 November. Find out more about this exciting opportunity to showcase the vitality of arthouse cinema, to connect with audiences, and explore new ways of programming European films.
Good Reads
- Missed the latest ICO blog? Catch up now with Heather Bradshaw’s report from the CICAE Arthouse Cinema Training course.
- Film Hub Northern Ireland and cinema historian Dr Sam Manning have a blog that examines the diary of a Belfast cinemagoer from 1939, detailing a year in the life of a pre-Letterboxd-era film buff.
- Arts Professional has shared details of a new report which exposes “woefully low” numbers of disabled people in the arts.
- After a glamorous award ceremony in Sheffield on 20 September, Cinema for All have announced the complete list of Film Society of the Year Award winners!
- BFI has republished their 2019 Sight and Sound article celebrating the late Robert Redford’s unique ability to blend traditionalism, predictability and inscrutability in all his performances.
- David Schwartz reflects on the works of Chantel Akerman for MUBI, delving into her incomparable career and the questions her films raised about the nature of home and belonging.
- Anthony Lane reports on Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025 for The New Yorker, highlighting the magic of a festival that turns back the clock.
- David Hudson memorialises actor Claudia Cardinale for Criterion, tracing her influential career from her first appearance in a student short film in 1956.
Image credit: Still from Nouvelle Vague, courtesy of Altitude Film Entertainment. Part of the ICO Autumn Screening Days programme.