Inclusive Cinema’s podcast series, Working Class Inclusion: Audiences, Colleagues & Programming, provides information and guidance to support exhibitors in improving cinema experiences for working-class people and those in poverty.
The resource comprises a series of six podcast episodes that cover a range of areas, from sliding-scale ticketing and equitable employment practices, to the films that are programmed and how they are presented.
There is also an access and inclusion checklist to support venues, festivals, industry initiatives and event organisers with strategic and operational measures to welcome working-class audiences and colleagues.
The series is presented by Dr. Leanne Dawson, senior lecturer in Film and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant.
The resources are intended as a practical guide to support cinemas, festivals and film exhibitors to welcome working class people as audiences and staff to their venues and increase access to independent cinema for all.
Working through these 6 short podcasts we hope you can find ideas and understanding of barriers for working class people, with a view to increasing access in cinemas, and offer a chance to reflect on where your venue is currently at.
Click on each link to listen to all 6 podcasts
You can download the transcript for each episode from the downloads section.
This introductory episode explores some issues with working class inclusion such as how we define class and that the term ‘working-class’ groups many different experiences together.
What to reflect on your organisation and how it can take small, cost-free measures to improve it’s welcome to working class people.
What to reflect on whilst working on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion EDI) in your organisation.
Consider the barriers you create that prevent people entering and/or enjoying your space or event.
How to include a spectrum of working class representation onscreen.
How to ensure you have working class employees at all levels of the organisation.
You can listen to all six podcast episodes of Working Class Inclusion: Audiences, Colleagues & Programming here:
Coming soon to:
We have provided a checklist of measures as suggested in the podcasts to provide your staff and venue with an easy point of reference when considering inclusion of working-class people in your work.
You can find this in the downloads section on this page.
We have provided a list of film suggestions which can be used for ideas and inspiration for film programmers when considering working-class representation in cinema. We’ll be updating this with distributor/access materials information as this comes in (until the end of March 2023).
You can find this in the downloads section on this page.
If you’ve ever thought about how to engage young audiences aged 16-30 but have been unsure where to start or even if you’ve begun work in this area but are now thinking about how to take it to the next level, then this is the resource for you.
Film Hub London is Young Audiences lead for FAN and we have been listening to and learning from the incredible FAN members delivering this work at venues, festivals and film societies across the UK. For this guide – FAN’s ‘Guide to Working with Young People’ – Moira McVean (FAN Young Audiences Manager) in collaboration with FAN Young Consultant Thea Berry has gathered case studies and examples of many of the ways you can bring young people and youth voice into your venue to authentically support you in engaging young people as young audiences for independent film.
The guide is split into chapters that highlight ways in which you can work with young people and throughout you’ll find links to supporting documents and further guidance. We’ve also included plenty of real-world quotes from both young people and venue management to help with board conversations and advocacy for the benefits of this work. Crucially, everything recommended is evidence based and grounded in research.
The introduction references research documents that have helped us determine the key barriers to young people’s attendance at independent venues with statistics that point towards the business case for young audience development.
It’s possible to read this guide as a journey that a young person could take with your organisation. Beginning as a focus group participant, moving to becoming a young writer and reviewer and onwards to Youth Advisory group member, Young Trustee, Mentee and Mentor. We have also gathered a range of case studies from across FAN detailing Young Programmer initiatives and examples of how these groups have led to the formation of independent film collectives.
So, with this resource we also want to encourage you to think about opening your venue’s doors and handing over your curatorial reigns to takeovers by these young collectives, youth led festivals and film clubs.
Significantly, all the practitioners we invited to contribute have highlighted one over-riding message and that is that to effectively attract young people to your venues and events, it is essential that you involve them in the design and development of your programmes and spaces. Therefore, our intention for this resource is to inspire and encourage more of the FAN membership to embrace and experiment with working with young people. We believe that by working with young people, taking on board their suggestions and advice and innovative ways of thinking, that the rewards will include welcoming young people into your venues as new audiences for independent film.
Download BFI FAN – GUIDE TO WORKING WITH YOUNG AUDIENCES.pdf
TLC (aka Tender Loving Care for Trans-Led / Trans-Loved Cinema) is a holding space for trans curators, writers and thinkers within cinema exhibition. An opportunity for the trans community and cis allies to celebrate, learn and share.
T.L.C, supported by delivery partners, writer and activist So Mayer and independent production company Aunt Nell, aims to help address the historic imbalance of trans representation on screen.
Across 2022 and 2023, a series of trans-focused film events took place across the UK as part of Inclusive Cinema’s T.L.C (aka Tender Loving Care for Trans-Led/Trans-Loved Cinema) project. There are some upcoming screenings too.
Integrated into indie cinema and festival programmes, films were screened, with Q&As and panels on diverse topics related to trans visibility in cinema, thanks to support from the BFI Film Audience Network (BFI FAN) awarding National Lottery funding. These events were recorded live and have been made into a podcast series.
Alongside these podcasts, there is a guide to Good Practice Examples for Tricky Questions. These questions and answers were created alongside and refer to the three T.L.C. podcasts and discussions around screenings.
Listen in on brilliant discussions about trans-led and trans-loved cinema, from events across the UK. Featuring tips for programmers and new discoveries for audiences: cinema for everyone.
Curated and with an extended introduction by Lillian Crawford
Screened at the Lexi Cinema in 2022. This magnificent film shines a spotlight on the ‘gay boy’ subculture of late-1960s Japan, specifically the gender-nonconforming hostesses of a Tokyo gay bar. Up-and-coming beauty Eddie and the reigning madame Leda are fighting for the attentions of the bar’s owner, Gonda. A celebration of youth and subcultures, a condemnation of intolerance, and a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience, this is a kaleidoscopic masterpiece and one of the most intoxicating films of the 1960s. Transgender actor Pîtâ gives an astonishing performance as Eddie.
In conversation with So Mayer, Alice Blanc (Trans+ on Screen) and Jaye Hudson (Fringe!), and in the cinema with Lillian Crawford, hosted by Rebecca del Tufo. Settle in for advice from So, Alice and Jaye on how to make your screenings gender-euphoric, and listen up for Lillian’s brilliant extended introduction to the legendary Japanese film Funeral Parade of Roses, recorded at the Lexi Cinema in London in July 2022.
Transcript available in downloads section.
Lillian Crawford (she/her, @lillcrawf) is a freelance film and culture writer for publications including Little White Lies, Sight & Sound, Plinth, Girls on Tops, Empire, GQ, Curzon, MUBI, Massive and BBC Culture. She is also a regular host of the Autism Through Cinema podcast and her own Substack blog and pod Listen to Lillian about queer and female representation in British cinema. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram @lillcrawf
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/why-funeral-parade-roses-landmark-japanese-queer-cinema
Milo Clenshaw, Alchemy Film & Arts
Screened at Heart of Hawick Cinema, Hawick in July 2022. Alchemy Film & Arts presented a one-off, double-bill screening of The Making of Pinocchio (2021), Glasgow-based artists and lovers Rosana Cade and Ivor MacAskill‘s autobiographical exploration of Ivor’s gender transition, preceded by No Words (2021), a short film created as part of Alchemy’s Film Town programme by Borders-based young people to articulate the pluralities of queer existence.
Both films utilise an experimental approach to convey deeply personal messages around identity and society’s perceptions of queer bodies. Audiences were invited to attend a live podcast recording after the screening, at which the filmmakers were present to discuss the joys, challenges and complexities of trans cinema.
We head to Hawick in the Borders for an event with Alchemy Film and Arts, programmed by Milo Clenshaw. Milo’s joined by four filmmakers for a flowing, in-depth discussion of local queer and trans filmmaking after a screening of their work: artists and lovers Rosana Cade and Ivor MacAskill talk about their trans reimagining of Pinocchio, a feature film called The Making of Pinocchio; and Natalie Ferguson and Katie Somers, members of a Borders-based group of young queer neurodivergent filmmakers, talk about the group’s film No Words.
Transcript available in downloads section
Rebecca del Tufo x The Lexi
Curated by Juliet Jacques and followed by a Q&A with director Sarah Pucill, hosted by Juliet Jacques
MAGIC MIRROR, screened at The Lexi, London in September 2022 combines a re-staging of the French surrealist artist Claude Cahun’s black and white photographs with selected extracts from her book Aveux non avenus (1930, Confessions Denied). In Surrealist kaleidoscopic fashion, the film weaves images and words, exploring the links between Cahun’s photographs and writing and Pucill’s own films, as both artists share similar iconography and concerns.
Juliet Jacques (@zinovievletter) is a writer and filmmaker based in London. She has published three books and a volume of short stories, with her fourth book, Front Lines: Trans Journalism 2007-2021, due out in July 2022. She writes short fiction as well as journalism, essays and criticism on literature, film, art, music, politics, gender, sexuality and football. She has made two short 16mm films and directed a documentary.
http://www.sarahpucill.co.uk/films/magic-mirror/
We travel back to the Lexi in London for a second screening hosted by programmer Rebecca del Tufo – this time with the filmmaker in attendance! Juliet Jacques is on hand to introduce Magic Mirror, Sarah Pucill’s first film about genderqueer artists and lovers Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, and she returns for an exhilarating deep-dive Q&A with the filmmaker after the screening. Together, Juliet and Sarah cover Cahun’s biography and artistic practice, Pucill’s experimental filmmaking practices, and theoretical questions of self, other, identity and creativity.
Transcript available in downloads section
Born To Be followed by a Q&A discussion with Laura Kate Dale in person, and joined by the film’s director Tania Cypriano and Dr Jess Ting via Zoom. The discussion was hosted by the Phoenix Cinema’s Bea Copland.
BORN TO BE, a documentary screened at the Phoenix Cinema, Orkney in March 2023, follows the work of Dr. Jess Ting (he/him) at the groundbreaking Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery. There, for the first time ever in New York City, transgender and gender non-binary people have access to quality gender-affirming care.
With extraordinary access, this documentary offers an intimate look at how one doctor’s work impacts the lives of his patients as well as how his journey from renowned plastic surgeon to pioneering gender-affirming specialist has led to his own transformation.
Laura Kate Dale is an autistic trans woman, author, and activist. Her memoir, Uncomfortable Labels, focused on life at the intersection of living life both trans and autistic. Gender Euphoria, her second book, was an anthology of positive, real life, gender affirming stories from non cisgender writers. Her first children’s book, Me and My dysphoria Monster, aims to discuss gender dysphoria in child appropriate language, with illustrations to bring to life a very internal experience. Laura has helped organise trans rights protests across the UK, alongside working as an accessibility focused video game critic.
Podcast for BORN TO BE at Phoenix Cinema, Orkney, coming soon.
You can listen to all three podcasts here:
T.L..C on Podbean
T.L.C on Spotify
T.L.C on Apple
T.L.C on Amazon
The Lexi is London’s only social enterprise cinema, a volunteer-run picture palace with strong links not just to its local community but also to a unique charity project in South Africa. It has recently opened its Hub and refurbished its main screen. Join us in Kensal Rise at 194b Chamberlayne Road, London NW10 3JU www.thelexicinema.co.uk
Rebecca del Tufo is a freelance film programmer combined with roles in film production and exhibition. She led the team which set up and ran independent cinema Saffron Screen in Saffron Walden, Essex and programmed the successful cinema for over 10 years. In 2021 she co-founded the not-for-profit organisation ScreenCraft Works to support under-represented talent in behind-the-camera roles.
deltuforebecca@gmail.com
Alchemy Film & Arts is based in the Scottish Borders town of Hawick. They work with communities and artists both locally and internationally, using film as a way to come together, have conversations and make positive change. Across a year-round programme of screenings, workshops, residencies, community filmmaking and the internationally renowned Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, they strive to create spaces in which collective expression, creative learning and critical thinking can take place.
https://alchemyfilmandarts.org.uk
Trans+ On Screen is a directory representing trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming professionals in all areas of Film and TV, from(pre-)production to distribution. They operate as a business model which challenges industry norms, and distances itself from agency fees and tokenistic hires, in favour of a model based on care and empowerment. They prioritise and elevate voices from a community that needs to be heard (and seen), to show a revolutionising way the industry can run.
https://transonscreen.com
Alice Blanc, the founder – works at Endeavor as a Materials Executive. They are also part of the BIFA Advisory Board and the Iris Prize Film Festival Committee, and currently studying Entertainment Business and Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Alice has experience working in the pre-production industry and distribution, in both film & TV.
Recent years have seen the release of trans-led and trans-made indie gems from around the world such as Isabel Sandoval’s award-winning Lingua Franca, Cássio Pereira dos Santos’s Valentina, and Max Currie’s Rūrangi. At the same time, trans-inclusive TV shows such as Pose, Sex Education, Euphoria and We Are Who We Are – not to mention Drag Race and Queer Eye – compel large audiences who are passionate about trans and queer storytelling and performance. How can venues, festivals and programmers bring those passionate audiences to the cinema for unique film experiences – and ensure that brilliant films are reaching the audiences they deserve? What kinds of marketing, educational and contextual materials might venues, festivals and programmers use, and where can they find them? Which critics, publications, socials and podcasts can provide support, speakers and strong content? What sort of in-cinema or social events, online promotions or content, can support compelling films and create returning audiences?
In addition, for these films to be embraced, we need to think about making spaces feel welcoming to audiences and speakers, and safe for staff. How can venues and festivals ensure that trans audience members and staff feel safe, supported and welcome at events, in-venue and in online conversations? What kind of practical and immediate changes could be put in place to give everyone the best experience – and what sort of training or resources might best support that for venues, festivals and organisations of all scales? How can you ensure the whole team is educated and feels confident in intersectional trans inclusion, without depending on a token trans person to educate you? What can programmers and organisers do to ensure that trans speakers and other freelancers feel included and cared for? How can you create spaces to hear from trans audience members, staff and freelancers who might feel excluded from your venue and/or events, or have had negative experiences in the past, and put plans in place to address that exclusion?
We know that all of these questions and more are already being asked and answered by venues, festivals, event organisers, curators, programmers, distributors, filmmakers and audiences. We know that best practice is already happening across the nations and regions, at all scales of event – and we want you to shout about your amazing work, great ideas and brilliant teams, so we can keep growing through exchange and listening, creating a grassroots resource that everyone can learn with. That’s T.L.C.
Lesbian Visibility Week is about solidarity with all LGBTQI+ woman and non binary people in the community, as well as celebrating lesbians. It is essential that Lesbian Visibility Week is a voice for unity and lifts up ALL women, especially those who come from marginalised communities. Recent research (Pride Matters survey, conducted by Pride In London 2018) has shown that gay women are almost twice as unlikely to be out in the workplace as gay male colleagues.
There has been a Lesbian Visibility Day since 2008.
Building on this, DIVA want to create a week that recognises, celebrates and importantly supports lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer women across the UK and beyond to be their true selves at work, at home and socially.
#LesbianVisibilityWeek | #LVW | #LWithTheT
Now is as important as ever to support the work of LGBTQ+ filmmakers and stories. We have some lists of films here which focus on lesbian stories or characters, however lesbianism can often be misrepresented and/or underrepresented in film. We hope increasing awareness and visibility will springboard more authentic representation in film, both onscreen and behind the camera.
If you are interested in running a film inspired event, we have provided some links below for further information to help inspire programming in your venue, or for running events or activity online.
UNV coordinates International Volunteer Day on 5 December every year to recognize and promote the tireless work, not just of UN Volunteers, but of volunteers across the globe. Every day, volunteers dedicate time and effort to ensure the inclusion of those often left behind, drive climate action and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Hundreds of community cinemas across the UK are volunteer-run, with people bringing their love of cinema and the audience experience to life in their communities. There are also many other independent venues that simply would not be able to provide the special and personal experiences they do without the support of volunteers. Thanks to all these brilliant people!
This guidance was written for government communicators but may also be useful to other communication professionals. We absorb a wide range of information every day through different communication channels, for example, radio, television, newspapers, advertising, internet and word of mouth. Some of these methods may be out of reach or inaccessible to some disabled people. … More
Why do artists use social media? How important is social media to an artist’s career? And if artists want to use it to their advantage, what do they need to do? In this report, Gabrielle de la Puente outlines the impact of social media on artists as a tool for work, networking, and creativity. The … More
International Day of People with Disabilities is the annual celebration of people with disabilities. In 2021 the theme was “Fighting for rights in the post-COVID era.”
Since March 2020, every person has been impacted by drastic political, social and economic change as a result of domestic and international responses to COVID-19.
It was intended that International Day of People with Disabilities should be used to recognise that people who live with disabilities are among the most affected populations amid the COVID pandemic. Where marginalisation, discrimination, vulnerability and exploitation are every day factors for many people, the increased risk of poor outcomes were magnified with the reduced access to routine health care and rehabilitation services, more pronounced social isolation, poorly tailored public health messaging, inadequately constructed mental health services, and a lack of emergency preparedness for people with access needs.
We call on domestic and international public health officials, political representatives, advocates, supporters, and every citizen in every community, to learn from the experiences of people living with disabilities during the pandemic, and push for more meaningful investments into the socioeconomic building blocks which will reduce the barriers faced by people with disabilities in every community.
Disabled representation in cinema continues to be a struggle, as we see very few authentic depictions that don’t play to the hero or tragedy tropes so often associated with disability on screen. Our ask of the film sector is to see more varied characters and stories about disability, to hire more disabled talent into production, distribution and exhibition roles in film, and to support any workers with access needs with compassion and care, so they can progress and have jobs for life in the industry.
As regards exhibition, at Inclusive Cinema, we seek to see as many subtitled, audio-described and relaxed screenings made available across the UK for those with access requirements as there are for those without access requirements.
Your Local Cinema lists many subtitled and audio-described screenings
Accessible Screenings UK also list autism-friendly, dementia-friendly, subtitled and audio-described screenings
