Tag: Programming

International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March every year.

It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organisation specific.

Given “women directed a record number of 2020 films” (Women represented 16% of directors working on the 100 highest-grossing films in 2020, Variety), how can we ensure that we give greater voice to women on our screens?

2680 out of 7000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.

International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. In 2019, the United Nations declared The Year of Indigenous Languages (IY2019) to raise awareness and recognise the important cultural value that they bring to our world.

The UN has proclaimed 2022-2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw global attention on the critical situation of many indigenous languages.

This is a great time to focus on planning screenings of films not in the English language, learn about the challenges Indigenous languages face by connecting people through language and culture through film.

February is LGBT+ History Month in the United Kingdom. It’s a month to celebrate the heritage, culture and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex self-defining groups.

Activists and allies can support by:

• Increasing the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT”) people, their history, lives and their experiences in the curriculum and culture of educational and other institutions, and the wider community;
• Raising awareness and advancing education on matters affecting the LGBT community;
• Working to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBT communities; and
• Promoting the welfare of LGBT people, by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables LGBT people to achieve their full potential, so they contribute fully to society and lead fulfilled lives, thus benefiting society as a whole.

Trans Week of Awareness is observed from 13th-19th November. It’s a week to celebrate the achievements and contributions of trans people. The end of Trans Week of Awareness is marked by the Trans Day of Remembrance on November 20th. This year there are a number of events happening in the United Kingdom and throughout November to raise awareness of trans issues.

Dementia-friendly screenings create a slice of normal life for people living with dementia, a chance to experience film in a relaxed and supported environment. Cinemas across the UK are providing screenings throughout the year, but World Alzheimer’s Month is an opportunity to highlight these events.

Dementia-friendly screenings are sometimes called relaxed screenings, though these can also be suitable for people with multiple sensory sensitivities or different conditions such as autism spectrum disorder or learning disabilities.

Screenings are adapted to make the environment more suitable for people living with dementia. Sometimes, simple adaptations can be enough for someone to experience a slice of ordinary life and enjoy a cinema experience with their companions.

Find out more about running dementia-friendly screenings here or check out the downloads on this page.