- As we bid a farewell to our and Club des Femmes’ amazing Revolt She Said: Women and Film After ’68 tour (last screenings tonight!), fear not that we wouldn’t continue bringing trailblazing films by female directors to cinemas across to UK. We’re delighted to be bringing The Personal is Political – Three films by Margarethe von Trotta to the big screens from October 2018, starting with screenings of The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (pictured), The Second Awakening of Christa Klages and Rosa Luxemburg at the Barbican. Tickets for these gems are already on sale!
- Want to get that dream job of yours in film programming or give your film career a boost? Applications are open until Tuesday 4 September for Cultural Cinema Exhibition, our practical and comprehensive film training course this 14-19 October in London.
- There’s still time to grab your day pass for our I.D. (Inclusion & Diversity) Screening Day! It’s all about finding practical ways to make sure your cinema is a welcoming space for everyone, and our speakers are experts in just that: Gina Duncan (whose time at BAMcinématek in New York you can read about here) will be delivering our keynote. Mark Miller from Tate will be hosting a session on how they overcame barriers for young working class people to enter their galleries. Passes (£30) also include lunch, refresshments and the evening drinks reception.
- We’re also already on sale with the early bird passes for our Autumn Screening Days at Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle – and let me tell you, they are just flying off the shelves!The offer ends Friday 31 August so make sure to act fast. We’ve already announced nearly half of the films for the event, including Cannes-winners Shoplifters, Capernaum and Burning. It’ll be the first time we’ll be hosting this event at Newcastle’s art deco gem and we just can’t wait – see you there this 27-29 October!
- This October, celebrate Black History Month in your community with some incredible footage of the under-seen history of black British life. Our fantastic Britain on Film: Black Britain collection is available for bookings with subsidied rates.
- And now for something completely different…This October-January, we’ll be bringing some great comedies to cinemas across the UK as part of our BFI Comedy Genius tour. Keep your eyes on our website for the full line-up announcement in early September!
ICO News
Opportunities
- Nominations are now open for Women in Film & TV Awards: don’t miss this chance to nominate someone you admire or who has inspired you in your work!
- Filmmakers, distributors and sales agents – applications are open until Monday 3 September for next year’s Berlinale Talents, an incredible international training opportunity that takes place during the Berlin Film Festival.
- Doc filmmakers – keep you application hat on: The Doc Society has launched a new fund for films up to 40 mins with budgets up to £11,250. Deadline is 14 September.
- Europa Cinemas, the world’s largest network of cinemas that covers Europe and beyond, is open for applications for new members. This offers vital skills sharing and financial support for showing more foreign-language films. Apply here.
- You can also register your cinema for the next European Art Cinema Day which will take place on Sunday 14 October.
- Scottish Queer International Film Festival SQIFF is currently open for film submissions. Enter yours by 28 September (it’s totally free!).
- The UKCA and Action on Hearing Loss have launched a new fund for innovations in subtitling technology for cinemas. This is a really important step in making the cinema more accessible, so if you have ideas, get applying!
- Into Film Festival, the UK’s largest event for young people in film, is coming this November and your cinema can take part.
Good reads
- “Just ask yourself what is it that you have to unlearn to help you remove the distance between yourself and the communities you seek to serve, and be open to the answers no matter how they make you feel about yourself.” Ahead of our I.D. Screening Day, Anim18 Proiect Coordinator (and our FEDS trainee) Umulkhayr Mohamed wrote a powerful piece on how we can decolonise the conversation around diversity in film industry.
- Crowdfunding isn’t only about the financial benefits – Arts Professional reports on how the campaigns can also help build new long-term audiences and boost company profile.
- “Watch a lot. Watch as broad a range of content as you can get access to.” With applications for our career-making Cultural Cinema Exhibition training course now open, we spoke to some of our alumni (now the brightest voices in film programming!) about how they got that dream job of theirs and what should be in a film programmer’s arsenal.
- Directors UK has released ‘Who’s Calling the Shots?’, their new report on gender inequality in UK TV and how the gender gap continues to widen. Read the report and their recommendations.
- “One of the big goals for having a subscription is to share independent films that we really think are the lifeblood of cinema and we love these movies and want to share them with as many people as possible. Our hypothesis is that if we can reduce the friction to seeing movies that people will take a chance on a movie that they didn’t hear about as much as one of the big films. It’s very early data, but that’s really great.” Business Insider has the inside scoop on Alamo Drafthouse’s new ticket subscription plan – and it’s sounding very promising.
- “There’s not a lack of films that feature people of color, there’s just a shortage of distribution opportunities for our stories.” The Wrap reports on how lack of diversity impacts what films get released.
- Our film programmer Isabel Moir wrote a piece on the archive film research she did for our and Club des Femmes Revolt She Said tour – and how she found gems such as Sheffield Film Co-op’s A Question of Choice.
- FAN members! Remember that your local hub can support you in attending various training and professional development events. Creative Arts East’s Zoe Fletcher was supported by Film Hub South East to attend the AMA conference and she wrote us a piece on what she took home from the leading event for arts marketeers.
- Creative Europe has published two really great reports on the impact of their funding in the UK. In a nutshell, membership of Creative Europe means UK films get more exposure in Europe, UK skills are exported more and we get a chance to see more European films. Read the whole thing here.
- “Cinemas real superheroes are not the vigilantes in Lycra who caper around on the big screens, but the underpaid employees stalking the aisles armed only with popcorn sweepers.” The Guardian wrote a piece on the secret world of cinema ushers (which brought back many unforgettable memories amongst ICO staff!).