This toolkit is, foremostly, a practical guide for improving the experiences of POC (people of colour) audiences, staff and filmmakers – and other intersections including gender, sexuality, disability, income and class. Whilst the harm and discrimination POC face in the arts both as workers and audiences is firmly rooted within institutional and systemic injustice, preventing immediate harm is the key priority – and that begins with immediate, though not as radical, reform. This goes beyond representation, and towards creating a space built for all people rather than for primarily white audiences. Whether your cinema is in a rural part of the UK, or in a densely populated city, ethnically diverse audiences are there and it is your cinema’s role to serve them.
The second function of this toolkit is to create lasting change for future generations, and sustain your organisation in a meaningful way (one which is framed around serving communities and not merely securing funding). To do this, you must play your role in preventing harm on an institutional and systemic level. In addition to immediately actionable tools, this toolkit will encourage inner, reflective and dialogue-based work towards undoing systemic injustice. This work will be longer term, and may at times feel personal, however confronting these uncomfortable spaces from positions of privilege is fundamental to creating wider change. Treat the provocations as actionable on a personal level within your roles and workplaces, because the results will be structural change that will not allow harm to exist within your organisations.
It is important that this toolkit is offered to all staff members in your cinema or film organisation; from trustees and managers to programmers and front-of-house staff. Whilst some will find responsibility placed on them to action certain aspects, others will be empowered by the conversations around equity this toolkit may enable. We implore you to talk widely within your organisation about the implications of this toolkit, in an environment in which hierarchies are cut away. Pay all staff equally to feed into this dialogue, and you will see what emerges on this new ground.
Whilst this toolkit has been written in the locale of South Wales, it is aimed towards independent cinemas, festivals, film-based organisations and digital film spaces across the UK – responding to regional differences in audiences, access to funding, rurality and lived experience.
We hope that once this toolkit is worked through, you will come away with an understanding that increasing diversity and access is not a means of sustaining your organisation, but of sustaining and resourcing the communities that cinema serves. This document further hopes to provide an opportunity to reflect on your organisation’s intentions, and how to realign those back to serving all audiences and filmmakers.
Immediate implications will be a reimagining and dismantling of old ways of working, and implementing new models of equity within your organisation and for those who enter your space (whether physical or digital). This is necessary work as a cultural space. It is always possible if there is the will to change, from staff make-up to programming practices, organisational hierarchies to an equalisation of pay; but if there isn’t a will to change, there must be a divestment of power and transference of funding to the communities your organisation is failing to serve. This toolkit will help you confront these different potentials for change.
This is difficult work because it calls for challenging your positionality, your personal and emotional responses, your attachment to a workplace, your unconscious and conscious biases, your own stability, your lived experiences, and the harmful structures you may benefit from. Then, it calls for a letting go. Inequity is not any one person’s fault but it is our collective responsibility to understand and undo it. And finally, it calls for a real commitment to doing the work.
Download the plain text version.
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In April 2021, Sadia spoke with BoxOffice Podcast about the toolkit. Listen here and check at the link for a full transcript of the interview.
UK Disability History Month takes place from November until December.
The UK Disability Month website offers a wide range of resources to understand the importance of the struggles of Disabled People.
Cinemas and film exhibitors can use this time to promote stories which explore the history and struggles of disabled people.
It is important that accessibility is addressed in all its complexity, encompassing the physical environment, transportation, information and communication, and services.
Cinemas across the country offer access for people who may have visible or hidden disabilities, as well as offering specific accessible screenings, such as subtitled, audio described, BSL interpreted, relaxed environment, autism-friendly, and/or dementia-friendly screenings.
Find screenings…
Your Local Cinema lists many subtitled and audio-described screenings
Accessible Screenings UK also list autism-friendly, subtitled and audio-described screenings
We Shall Not Be Removed worked in partnership with Ramps on the Moon, Attitude is Everything,Paraorchestra, and What Next? to create a new guide for the arts and entertainment sectors to support disability inclusion. Their Seven Inclusive Principles for Arts & Cultural Organisations working safely through COVID-19 was designed to complement the suite of guidance documents already issued by UK Governments and sector support organisations.
The focus of this unique initiative, which builds from the #InclusiveRecovery campaign, was to ensure D/deaf, neurodiverse and disabled people were not discriminated against as creative work begun again and as venues re-opened following closure during the Covid pandemic. The Seven Principles offer practical guidance to arts and cultural organisations to support disabled artists, audiences, visitors, participants and employees.
The Seven Principles are applicable across all art forms and across all 4 UK nations and come with endorsement from a wide range of leading sector bodies including: Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, The Arts Council of Wales, The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Film Institute, The Museum Association, Theatres Trust, Royal Philharmonic Society and the British Council.
Read the full document for details and examples here at WeShallNotBeRemoved.com
You can also find out more through this video.
If you are finding it difficult to watch your favourite television programmes or films, you can enable audio description (AD). Audio description (AD) is additional commentary that explains what’s happening on screen. AD describes body language, expressions and movements, making the programme clear through sound.
World Sight Day in October draws attention to the experience of millions of people dealing with sight loss across the world. Over 3 out of 4 of the world’s vision impaired are avoidably so, therefore the IAPB (International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness) are running their #LoveYourEyes campaign to raise awareness about global eye health. Find out how you can support through their website resources.
Cinemas UK-wide make films available with audio description so customers with sight loss can experience the latest films. Audio description is only made available on some titles, but we look to a time when audio description is available on all titles.
Accessible Screenings UK lists audio-described screenings, as well as other accessible screenings.
September is Bisexuality Visibility Month, during which is Bi Visibility Day on September 23rd. It’s a month to come together in solidarity to unite, raise awareness, challenge erasure and celebrate bisexual and biromantic people and communities.
Events celebrating Bi Visibility which are needed more than ever for those who may be less visible and more marginalised at this time.
Activists and allies can support bisexual people, and the LGBTQIA community by:
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 bisexual stories or characters, however bisexuality 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.
September is World Alzheimer’s Month, with a focus on World Alzheimer’s day on 21st September. It can highlight the importance of taking the time to talk and helping to break the silence around dementia.
The month is a global opportunity to raise awareness around dementia, one of the biggest challenges we face, with nearly 50 million people living with dementia worldwide. it is important for everyone to understand how it impacts the daily lives of people affected by the condition and challenge the stigma that surrounds it. People and organisations have a chance to demonstrate how we can overcome these issues and help people live well with dementia. Find out more about how to get involved in the UK from Alzheimer’s Society.
We can help by working together, collaborating and sharing best practice with one another. We have included some resources below to help get you started. You may want to join the Dementia Friends movement, or help by sharing information with friends, family and colleagues.
Cinema and film can be an inspiring and powerful tool for representation and developing awareness projects. Find some inspiration on this page 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.
Dementia-friendly cinema screenings create a slice of normal life for people living with dementia, a chance to experience film in a relaxed and supported environment. The screenings have adaptations to make the space more comfortable and accessible for people living with dementia to enjoy film, as individuals or with their families. Organisations such as the UK Cinema Association, Alzheimers Society and FAN have worked with cinemas to support them in welcoming audiences living with dementia.
During coronavirus, there were restrictions on dementia-friendly screenings as public events could be a higher risk activity for some audiences living with dementia, or for people who are living in care homes. Make sure to follow current advice on dementia friendly cinema from the Alzheimers Society.
We believe we should be constantly striving to improve access to film and cinema for all audiences and have provided some training resources and information on this page to help you host Dementia Friendly Screenings in your venue.
These resources may also assist and inspire you towards creating a more accessible and inclusive experience for your events more generally, for example increasing staff and audience awareness, introducing a more relaxed policy to your screenings, providing quiet spaces or improving signage.
Cinema’s can offer much needed support. The Alzheimer’s Society need organisations to take action and support people affected by dementia to keep them connected to their culture and their community in new and creative ways. Here are some of the key actions they suggest you can do to make a difference to people’s lives:
We would love to know about your film or cinema project at Inclusive Cinema. If you’d like to submit your own case study, please download this Inclusive screening case study template and submit it to includeme[at]filmhubwales.org, so we can share your experiences, too.
Learning Disability Week, taking place in the third week of June is presented by Mencap.
Learning disabled people are chronically underrepresented in the film industry. This is a time to reflect on supporting learning disabled representation in the film industry as well as consider access to cinema for neurodivergent audiences.
Oska Bright, based in Brighton is the worlds biggest learning disability film festival. Find out more about their amazing work here. Mencap community group of people with a learning disability took a look at four films which were shown as part of the Oska Bright 2024 Film Festival. You can watch the films here.
Daydream Cinema provide accessible screenings for neurodiverent and disabled audiences. The Connect With Film: Neurodivergent Short Film Programme features several films by learning disabled filmmakers, and will be screened FREE online during Learning Disability Week. Watch it here from Saturday 22nd – Sunday 23rd June 2024.
In 2019, FAN New Releases supported Signature’s title The Peanut Butter Falcon, a modern Mark Twain-esque adventure starring Shia LaBeouf (American Honey, Fury) as a small-time outlaw turned unlikely coach who joins forces with Zack Gottsagen‘s Zak, a young man with Down Syndrome on the run from a nursing home with the dream of becoming a professional wrestler. You can now watch The Peanut Butter Falcon on BFI Player.
You can also watch the film My Feral Heart on Amazon Prime. A drama in which Luke (Steven Brandon), a young man with Down’s syndrome who prizes his independence, is forced into a care home after the death of his mother. There he rails against the restrictions imposed on him, but his frustrations are allayed by his budding friendships with his care-worker Eve (Shana Swash) and a mysterious feral girl (Pixie Le Knot).
If you’re interested in running a relaxed screening to help bring in Learning Disabled audiences to your cinema, find out more in our quick tips for running relaxed screenings. You may also find some transferable advice in our autism-friendly screenings guide, though bear in mind much of this advice is specific to people living with autism, not necessarily those who are Learning Disabled. Ideally, consult with Learning Disabled groups in your area for advice and expertise.
June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in the United Kingdom. It commemorates the Stonewall riots and aims to recognise the impact LGBTQIA+ people have had and continue to have across the world.
It’s a month for communities to come together in solidarity to unite, to protest and to celebrate the heritage, culture and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual people.
Activists and allies can support by:
There are a wealth of films available on the LGBTQIA+ experience and history. It’s now as important as ever to support the work of LGBTQIA+ filmmakers and we have some lists and suggestions to get you started.
You can learn about how to become a more LGBTQIA+ friendly organisation, and think about how to support and collaborate with LGBTQIA+ led exhibitors and programmers.
When running LGBTQIA+ events is is important to consider intersectionality, including supporting global majority communities and ensuring your events embed disabled and neurodivergent access.
If you are interested in running a film event for, or inspired by, Pride, here are some resources for information and to help generate ideas, from case studies to film guides.
Volunteers’ Week takes place in June every year, this week it runs from 3rd – 9th June. It’s a chance to say thank you for the contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK to support our communities.
The Week is open to anyone to take part – this can include carrying out an act of kindness, doing some volunteering or contributing to discussion. Find more information here.
The week is led in partnership by NCVO, Volunteer Scotland, Volunteer Now (Northern Ireland) and Wales Council for Voluntary Action and supported by organisations across the UK.
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. This is a week to give extra thanks to these brilliant people.
