Matt Fenton is the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Contact. In this case study on the theme of leadership and development, Matt talks about their model which relies on young people aged 13–30, and the wide-ranging impact two specific projects have had on participants, communities and audience development.
Our pioneering project, A Life More Ordinary, gives people living with dementia and memory loss more choice, more control and greater access to leisure and cultural opportunities at The Dukes. Crucially, it is a project which takes place in ‘ordinary’ public settings, not in care or medical settings. The intention is that people can feel … More
Colinsburgh Community Cinema is a not-for-profit community organisation run by four friends and based in the Scottish village of Colinsburgh. It is in its sixth season [2013-14]. The village is situated in rural Fife and has a population of 250 although we also draw our audience from the Fife coastal villages along the Forth and … More
In 2012, Orkney resident Mark Jenkins was tasked with looking into developing a film festival for locals, with support from Orkney Islands Council and Visit Orkney. General feedback that Mark received over the next year was that there wasn’t really a local appetite for a temporary film event – without a local core audience and … More
In 2016 Film Hub Wales approached venues across North Wales to develop a project designed to reduce isolation, build creative infrastructure and generate buzz around British independent and international films. Galeri, Pontio, Theatr Ardudwy and CELLB responded, bringing expertise and new cinema experiences to audiences in Gwynedd.
Conversations About Cinema: Impact of Conflict (Jan – July 2015) opened up discussions around a universal theme through film screenings, events and online publishing. It connected audiences, cinemas and partners across the BFI Film Audience Network, focusing on South West & West Midlands, Wales and Northern Ireland.
CREATE Film Festival was a project from multi-award winning organisation In Place of War, that looked at creativity in sites of conflict through the eyes of some of the world’s most daring and innovative filmmakers.
Why we let our audience pay what they want We’ve had some trials to help us decide whether allowing our audience to pay what they want to our events is something that could work. Since New Notions is quite young (we just passed our first birthday), we’re still growing and testing new ideas. We believe … More
Project overview Why the project matters Through working with autism and learning disabilities arts charity, Square Pegs, we identified that we weren’t reaching a local audience of learning disabled and autistic young adults, who currently do not access, experience and appreciate film through a local cinema experience. However, we also identified that our current set … More
Africa in Motion is an Edinburgh-based annual African film festival, managed and run as a not-for-profit organisation. The festival is directed by Lizelle Bisschoff and Stefanie Van de Peer, both researchers in African cinema, and is organised by a dedicated team of about 10 part-time staff and volunteers.
