Screening Days

ICO Spring Screening Days 2023

11/03/2023 - 19/03/2023

BFI Southbank, London

Join us for Spring Screening Days 2023 – a hybrid event running at BFI Southbank, London and online!

Screening Days is a chance for cinema professionals to preview key upcoming films to aid their programming, marketing and audience development.

We’re delighted to be returning to BFI Southbank for our flagship spring event, where we’ll be screening an array of the best independent films set for release in the months following so you can pack your programmes with new discoveries to delight your audiences.

This Screening Days is a hybrid (in-person and online) event. You can attend in-person at BFI Southbank from Sat 11 to Mon 13 March and/or watch a selection of films from the programme online from Tues 14 to Sun 19 March.

New to Screening Days? Check out our trailer to get a sense of what it’s like. These events showcase some of the best upcoming independent films from across the world – and if you work or volunteer somewhere that shows films, we’d love you to join us!

Not sure if Screening Days is for you? See our Eligibility section.

For all other details, scroll down or see our FAQ.

Registration

Registration for this event is now closed.

“Amazing programme of films”

“Some great films I would not have discovered without you”

“Excellent in every way”

Spring Screening Days 2022 attendees

Session: Making the Most of Your Membership Schemes

  • Do you have a membership scheme and think it could be delivering more?
  • Do you think about introducing a membership scheme but worry about the offer?
  • Does the thought of changing your membership scheme make you worry about crashing your website or enraging your most loyal fans?

Whether you’re a cinema or a community group, running an efficient membership scheme can increase frequency of attendance, drive overall revenue and encourage audiences to broaden their film tastes. But that’s only possible if you have the technology and insight to get it right.

In this Zoom session, we’ll hear from users of the Eventive platform for cinemas and community screens on how they’ve delivered all kinds of benefits for their businesses and audiences by using a modern and stress-free platform for memberships.

Led by Dave Taylor-Matthews, Eventive with Greg Walker, Producer, CULTPLEX Manchester and Kevin Smith, CEO, Denver Film.

3:30pm, Wednesday 15 March on Zoom.

Register to receive your joining link to attend

Am I eligible?

We want to welcome as many people as possible to our events while still protecting the work of filmmakers and distributors. Screening Days is for anyone who works or volunteers in a space that shows films and who helps encourage audiences to watch them, including front-of-house staff and young film programmers. If you’re in any doubt about your eligibility, just email us.

Support to attend Screening Days

ICO funds to support attendees (available on a first-come, first-served basis) have now all been allocated. However, your regional Film Hub may be able to offer bursaries to support your attendance (see links below). If your organisation is not yet a Hub member, it is usually easy to register quickly and it’s free.

What to expect at Screening Days

FAQ

When can I see the schedule?

  1. See the schedule

Films screening online will be available on Eventive following the in-person event (from Tuesday 14 March until end Sunday 19 March).

When will I get full event info?

Shortly before the event, we’ll send you a PDF event pack with all details including film descriptions, instructions on how to join at BFI Southbank and/or online, a full schedule, and a participant list.

If you are attending in-person at BFI Southbank and would like a colour hard copy of the printed pack, you can purchase one in our online ticketing to collect on your arrival (we no longer print packs for everyone to avoid unnecessary waste). 

What pass type should I buy?

Generally, we ask people to purchase an organisational pass if they’re representing an organisation at the event; with discounted passes for freelance workers (freelance pass), those aged between 18-30 (young person’s pass) and those who are of working age but currently unwaged and/or who would not otherwise be able to attend (supported pass).

If you don’t qualify for the supported pass, but need financial support to attend, there are two options for assistance available: via your Film Hub, or via our very simple, no questions asked support fund. Read about both ways to be supported here.

As a bit of background: Screening Days pass costs are already highly subsidised, and we need to bring in a certain amount of income from pass fees to unlock the higher level of public funding needed to run the events.

So, while we want to support people to attend in any way we can – especially at the current moment – our fees are crucial to our ability to continue holding Screening Days events.

Email: info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk with any other queries about purchasing a pass.

Can I switch my pass type after registering?

Yes, you can switch your pass type from in-person/online to online only, or vice versa while capacity allows until the registration deadline on Monday 20 February.

To do so, email us at: info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk.

Please note that the in-person event usually sells out, so if you hope to attend at BFI Southbank, we recommend booking an in-person/online pass in the first instance.

How many films are available in-venue and online?

There are 24 films in the programme. All films will screen at BFI Southbank and we aim to make at least 12 titles from the programme available to watch online too. We will confirm if films will be available online as well as in-venue as they are announced. However, please note that we reserve the right to pull titles from online screenings if we have any issues on the delivery of materials closer to date.

What devices can I watch films on online?

We work with Eventive to deliver our online events. You can view films on Eventive on a laptop, tablet (e.g. iPad), phone, Chromecast and Airplay from your device, and via HDMI connector to your laptop. However, please note that you can’t currently watch on devices with a Linux or Chrome based operating system (e.g., Chromebooks). In general, it’s a good idea to test your set up before streaming the films – you can do that on Eventive’s compatibility page. We offer a support email service throughout the event.

How accessible is the event?

We aim to provide SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) on as many films as possible online and in-person.

For films shown online, where distributors can’t supply SDH, we create them if we receive film materials in enough time to do so.

For films shown in-person, we are unfortunately limited by whether or not distributors can supply SDH on DCP at the time of their screening.

We will confirm all details of which films will play with SDH in-person and online as soon as we can before the event.

See BFI Southbank’s access information page for details of venue accessibility.

If you have any other queries about access not answered here, email us at: info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk

How do I get to BFI Southbank?

BFI Southbank sits on the South Bank under Waterloo Bridge in London. For local travel information, see BFI Southbank’s website.

Can I get food and drinks at BFI Southbank?

Tea and coffee will be provided during morning registration.

You can also visit BFI’s bars or one of the many cafés and restaurants nearby.

On Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes, we also recommend the Southbank Centre Food Market just behind the Southbank Centre adjacent to BFI Southbank.

We will hold a drinks reception after the final films of the day on Saturday 11 March in the Blue Room at BFI Southbank.

How do you select films for Screening Days? 

We work closely with distributors to select independent, world and art house cinema that will be released in the following quarter. We focus on titles that are unlikely to have a vast marketing budget so need the keen curatorial eye and advance notice that a viewing at Screening Days can provide for your programme. We also occasionally include higher profile titles so delegates can assess their suitability for programming.

Our goal is to provide you with the opportunity to see the widest possible range of high quality films to help you broaden and diversify the programmes in your venues.

Selected films may be contextualised with introductions and discussions on how they might best be programmed to maximise their potential for audience development.

Films will be announced on this page as they are confirmed. Full film descriptions and booking details will be circulated to registered delegates before the event in our PDF delegate pack.

Why do you run Screening Days?

Good question! We run Screening Days for a few key reasons, best summarised as: ‘To help UK cinemas better serve all their possible audiences’. We focus the events on screenings and discussion because:

  • We want cinemas across the UK to be able to make informed decisions about the films they programme, so audiences can see the best titles from around the world. That’s hard if you haven’t actually been able to watch the films and can’t afford to rely on expensive festival trips or distributor marketing materials.
  • We think independent cinemas are best when their programming stands out. Screening Days aims to support ambition in cinema programming .
  • We want to have useful conversations about what it’ll take to build a stronger independent cinema sector. Gathering people in the sector together helps us identify common problems and find shared solutions.
  • We want to support independent distributors by helping their films find an audience in independent cinemas.

What we hope to achieve:

  • Cinemas more regularly choosing films in our programme of independent British and world cinema titles and expanding the types of films they show.
  • Cinemas attracting a wider range of people to those films.
  • Attendees gaining a wider professional network and feeling part of a community.
  • A wider group of people feeling that they can participate in film exhibition.
  • Independent distributors feeling they’re able to play their films more widely from having been included in the programme.

Can I talk about the films I see at Screening Days?

You’ll be able to discuss films with other attendees during the event. However, due to our agreements with distributors, it’s important not to discuss the films you see at the event in online spaces (e.g. social media, blogs), even if your comments are positive and even if the film has already screened elsewhere. If you’d like to talk about the event in general on social media, though, please do! You can find us on TwitterInstagram or Facebook with the event hashtag #ScreeningDays.

Piracy

We take piracy very seriously. Please do not record, copy, share or stream films from our online platform, which are provided only for film exhibition professionals that meet the entry criteria. We have advanced security measures in place including forensic watermarking that will allow us to prevent and track piracy. If you are found to be in breach of these terms, we will take any and all legal measures available.

Code of Conduct

Whether on or offline, we want our events to be fun, inclusive spaces for film professionals. We expect people attending and working at them to maintain this code of conduct so that they stay that way. Harassment and bullying have no place at ICO events.

Examples of inappropriate behaviours that contravene our code of conduct include offensive comments, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of events, aggressive behaviour, inappropriate physical contact and unwelcome sexual attention.

If someone behaves inappropriately towards you or you witness something inappropriate, please report it to a member of ICO staff or email us. Your complaint will be treated with discretion. We are happy to help and can help report inappropriate behaviour to the authorities where necessary or address the problem ourselves where more appropriate. We reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone who does not comply with our code of conduct. This code of conduct applies both in-person and online.

If you would like to speak to an independent organisation about an issue, the Film and TV Charity have a free and confidential 24-hour helpline available on 0800 054 00 00.

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