ICO news
- This Friday sees the return of Sid and Nancy to cinemas, a brilliantly restored re-release in partnership with Studiocanal for the film’s 30th anniversary. If you want a taste of what the definitive punk is like, check out the trailer!
- Another year, another Developing Your Film Festival course finished. A massive thanks to all the delegates and speakers who came to our training course in beautiful Motovun. We put together this round up of some of the top teachings from the course over here. We wish all of our new friends every success as they take our training back to their film festivals across the world!
- We’re hiring! We’re looking for an enthusiastic and capable Administration Assistant, but you have to be quick – the deadline’s 5pm tomorrow! This is the ideal job for anyone looking for a start in the exhibition or film industries.
- Another deadline for tomorrow! If you’re a manager working in exhibition and you want a training course that helps you fulfil your potential, sign up for Elevate. Our course offers key skills training to strengthen and propel your abilities, helping you to maximise your current role and prepare for leadership.
- We had a great time at Archive Screening Days at Watershed in Bristol. We brought together some of the world’s top film archives to show the power and audience-appeal of showing archive film. Couldn’t make it along? Don’t worry: we’ve put together this round up of what went on here.
- Remember when we assaulted cinemas earlier this year with The Artists Cinema? If you didn’t get the chance to be surprised by our commissions in the wild, our partner on the project LUX Moving Image are now sharing the films online for free, starting with Naeem Mohaiemen’s Abu Ammar is Coming. New films will be released each month.
Opportunities and calls for submissions
- BFI NET.WORK, in conjunction with the London Film Festival, provides a unique opportunity for up to 15 UK writers and directors to participate in masterclasses, screenings, events and one to one meetings with industry professionals. This year the initiative will align with the BFI’s Black Star Blockbuster season. Head to the BFI’s site for more details on this brilliant initiative.
- Get your submission in for the Academy Award and BAFTA-qualifying Leeds International Film Festival 2016 – the deadline’s 12 August 2016. LIFF welcomes submissions of features and shorts, narrative or documentary and live action or animation.
- On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the London Filmmakers Cooperative and the fortieth anniversary of London Video Arts (now LUX), Moving Image Review & Art Journal are inviting articles that reflect upon the histories, contexts and legacies of artists film and video practices in Britain since 1966. The deadline’s 15 August 2016 and more details are on Lux’s website.
- Voted one of the top 100 film festivals in the world by filmmakers on FilmFreeway, Discover Film Festival is currently open for submissions. Get your submission in by 15 August 2016.
- And if that wasn’t enough top UK film festival deadlines for you, Glasgow Film Festival early bird deadline is at the end of the month!
- Wotever Film Festival – the UK’s premiere DIY LGBTQI+ focused fest – are running a Kickstarter campaign to keep their festival as accessible to all and free. Some of their rewards are really wild, but sadly you’re too late to get the strip tease lesson.
- Aya Distribution are celebrating the work of the father of African cinema Ousmane Sembne by releasing the new documentary about his work Sembene! as well as world cinema classics Xala, Moolaade and Black Girl. The doc’s co-director will be available for Q&As during the release in November. If you’re interested in finding out more (and you really should as these are brilliant films that deserve to be seen more widely), get in touch with Justine Atkinson: j.atkinson@ayadistribution.org.
Read more
- The big news in exhibition is Cineworld’s 124 million acquisition of five Empire Cinema sites, chief among them being the prestigious Empire Leicester Square. Cineworld is currently the UK’s second biggest exhibitor by market share (behind Odeon & UCI Cinemas) – but for how much longer…?
- The history of women’s filmmaking is yet to be complete. This is an interesting look at one undiscovered part.
- As you may have heard, we’re re-releasing Sid and Nancy with Studiocanal from Friday. To give the film a bit more context, the BBC have a great article featuring Don Letts on why punk cinema matters.
- Il Cinema Ritrovato is a gigantic celebration of archive film in the picturesque setting of Bologna. Jo Comino of Borderlines Film Festival explains why this is the ultimate celebration of the power of film.
- Creative Scotland have released more news on some of the fantastic support they’re putting into the arts. Over 1.2 million of funding was awarded in June 2016 to 52 recipients including Scottish Queer International Film Festival.
- Did you ever hear the story about the film club set in a cattle market? No? Read about Jennifer Skinner’s amazing film club on the Isle of Tiree and how she opened up a new world to her local community.
- What’s it like being on our FEDS scheme? We sat down with Rebekah, who is working at Errol Flynn Filmhouse in Northampton, to talk about working in an independent cinema.
- To cap off, whilst we normally don’t go for Hollywood news, The Guardian takes an interesting look at gender-swapping with the recent news of Channing Tatum’s future role as a merman.