World Autism Awareness Week has become World Autism Acceptance Week. Many people have heard of autism, but few people understand the strengths and challenges that come with living with autism. Understanding autism is the responsibility of all society, so that autistic children, adults, and their families can be understood, supported and accepted in their communities, schools and workplaces.

Many cinemas across the country offer relaxed environment or autism-friendly screenings, with adaptations to make the space more comfortable and accessible for autistic people to enjoy film as individuals or with their families.

Organisations such as the UK Cinema Association, Dimensions, National Autistic Society and BFI FAN have worked with cinemas to support them in welcoming autistic audiences.

Here is a list of UK venues who host Relaxed Screenings.

We have provided some training resources and information on this page to help you host Relaxed Screenings in your venue.

Autism and cinema

Cinema and film can be an inspiring and powerful tool for representation and developing awareness projects. Find some inspiration on this page about previous and existing projects, films or information for further research and planning ideas. There is also some information about setting up online film clubs and resources to help plan in this difficult time due to coronavirus.

Online films

We have provided some links to some interesting films below. If you are an autistic filmmaker and have work online, for example on your website, YouTube or Vimeo, you can let us know about it by completing our contact form here.