Young Audiences Screening Days 2025

A proudly independent cinema in Manchester, CULTPLEX screens everything from cult films and TV to big-screen gaming, quizzes, gigs, and whatever else seems fun to the programming team. In this session, Greg Walker – Cinema Manager and Programme Lead – will share how half their audience ended up under 28 years old (on purpose, mostly). He’ll get into how CULTPLEX has built a genuine community, treats cinema like a sacred ritual (with popcorn), and keeps things feeling loose, open, people-led – and why they believe cinema is best when it sparks enthusiastic conversation and community, not just quiet passive consumption.

One in ten households in the UK have a disabled child, but very often the cinema experience isn’t open to them. Short/Cut, delivered by Social Cinema in Waltham Forest in London, created a series of events designed for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) children. In this session, Social Cinema’s Anna Peres talks through approaches that work in a variety of contexts – from finding partners, to making your space inviting, to programming – to ensure you can welcome this broad demographic.

In an age of online harm, disconnection and identity crisis, cinema can be a radical tool for care. This session explores how peer-led, care-driven film spaces can serve as community anchors for young people. Led by curator Pearl Htike, working with a youth and mental health specialist and cinema practitioners, this workshop will explore how you can create spaces that centre young people’s experiences and offer them value far beyond what is on screen, for cinema to be a gateway to real-world empowerment, dialogue, and connection.

While there are often thriving kids audiences for Hollywood studio films in our cinemas, there are benefits for offering the same wide breadth we offer to adults to younger patrons. How can we encourage parents and children to widen their palate, to make the ‘risky’ a risk worth taking? In this panel, led by curator Nathasha Orlando Kappler (Reverie Cineclub), we’ll hear from practitioners who have broken the barriers to an incredible world of film that has made special connections with young people.

Often perceived as a challenging ‘sell’ for younger audiences, this session will show that experimental film and moving image can be an effective means of bringing young people together. Using three relevant case studies, film curator Juwairiyyah Wali, joined by experimental filmmakers Ayo Akingbade and Harry Lawson, will highlight the functionality of youth collectives to show how these films can align with young people’s interests, curiosity and sensibilities, offering cinema venues something unique and powerful to connect with younger people from different age groups.

Whether you’re looking to launch a new family programme or strengthen loyalty to an existing one, creative events can help your offer truly stand out for young audiences. In this session, Small World Cinema—with a long-standing track record of delivering low-cost, inclusive events for children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, both in cinemas and alternative spaces—will share practical case studies showcasing successful approaches. Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience in delivering children’s events, this session aims to provide fresh inspiration and actionable ideas.