Film – the start of a conversation… #convocinema'Powerful, intense. A requirement of being human’ Night Will Fall Audience Comment

Conversations About Cinema, started as monthly partnership strand between independent venue (Watershed, Bristol, UK) with Bristol University in 2014. It has gone from strength to strength with intros, informal chats in the bar and online publishing around titles such as Night Will Fall and Concerning Violence. Au Revoir Les Enfants presented as part of the strand achieved 95% capacity with 386 admits at Watershed over 7 days (six sold-out screenings. )

it works because it’s simple.

audience led – cinemas are after all places where people come together to experience film. We’ve just created an open space for them to share their thoughts on and offline.

A collective + sustainable + multipliable approach –bringing independent cinemas together to get behind a menu of new releases that fit a universal theme: IMPACT OF CONFLICT. It taps into regional eco-systems, networks and audiences.

Region specific Programming – diverse film events around the themeCross Hub Moments around a collective menu of films across 3 hub regions

Jan - March 2015: RnD (incl. small scale trials: Au Revoir Les Enfants, Selma, Maidan, Testament of Youth, Last of the Unjust)

April - July 2015: The Decent One (April), Timbuktu (May), The Look of Silence (June) Salt of The Earth (July)

August 2015: External evaluation Delivery

6 months of audience facing activity Projected admits: 12K +£140K budget incl. £70K (BFI PDF Fund)

Lead Partners: -Watershed + Bristol University (South West & West Midlands-Chapter (Cardiff, Wales) -QFT (Belfast, Northern Ireland)

+ More than 25 organisations (cultural, social, academic, political) with over 60 films and close to 50 special guests and speakers

+ Distributors

Watershed

Chapter

QFT

TWEET– Just use #convocinema and we’ll be listening. You can also follow the main twitter feed @ConvoCinema for all the conversation updates

WRITE – Need more than 140 characters? Post a comment on conversationsaboutcinema.co.uk or send us an email

SHARE – If you want to share, there’s buttons at the bottom of each piece of conversation content to share to Facebook, Twitter, Google + and via Email.

SHARE FURTHER – If you want to share the content on your own website, blog or news feed, then just get in touch and we’d be happy to help or visit our YouTube Channel.

CREATE YOUR OWN EVENTS – If you’re showing any of the films presented or are interested in getting your audiences involved, you can use the branding & create content.

POST IT ON A NOTICEBOARD – If you visit one of our main project venues; you can post your thoughts on a dedicated noticeboard.

Selma Survey monkey - Audience feedback, Bristol – further analysis to follow: 226 responses / Watershed Admits: 388053% of respondents attended a Convocinema event in the bar Also see vox pops, twitter chat and noticeboard cards

Question: how did it make you feel?“Sad. It took me back in time. I remember seeing things in the news as a child and later - events like these help form my sense of social injustice.”“Humble. We discussed afterwards if we would have the necessary bravery if ever challenged in similar ways.”On extra content: “The various opportunities recently provided to reflect on, interact with others to share and exchange our experiences of certain are very welcome.”

PRESS COVERAGE included:Methodist Recorder (Main) 27 February 2015

Annemarie Jacir #WhenISawYou #convocinema @wshed

Simultaneous Facebook Ads across 3 sites:304 Likes / 33 Shares / 17 comments

“Just to re-iterate that this is fantastic! Our next release is SUFFRAGETTE (due for an Autumn release) and it seems like it would be a perfect title for ‘Conversations About Cinema’” Chris Besseling, Pathe UK

Film Matters… to capture and share some of the impact of cultural film exhibition can have on individuals, communities and society as a whole.

Business of Culture… to develop the access to diverse films outside London + create the demand from the ground up; amplify audiences’ interest and engagement + impact on the sector’s confidence in taking cultural “risks”.

Sustained and New relationships… with audiences, partner exhibitors, the wider BFI Film Audience network, distributors, filmmakers:

Impact of Project – work in progress

What is working / not working will be shared (August):-Cross Hub partnership working-Overarching brand / Impact of Conflict theme & the depth of audience engagement Cross Hub Marketing / Communications strategy -Collective conversations / Contextualisation online – audience & exhibitor engagement depth of engagement highlighting impact and audience reactions -Wider impact on sector & legacy (exhibition, distribution, production)

Europa Distribution blog

“I describe it as: we are in the business of culture, not the culture of business. It’s got to work as a business model, otherwise we wouldn’t exist. But we must never allow that to cloud our cultural remit.” Mark Cosgrove (Watershed Cinema Curato, April ‘15 Sight & Sound

watershed.co.uk

conversationsaboutcinema.co.uk

@convocinema

#convocinema