People affected by dementia often have to give up the things they love due to inaccessible and unsupportive environments. This includes visiting a cinema.
Cinemas have an important part to play in tackling the social and economic impact of dementia, by allowing people living with dementia to continue to participate in entertainment. Our new cinema guide, produced in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society and UK Cinema Association, is designed to help cinemas improve their accessibility and become more dementia-friendly.
People living with dementia should be able to live the life they want to lead in their communities, irrespective of their condition. This will only be achieved with greater awareness, understanding, and support for those impacted by dementia. Becoming a dementia-friendly organisation means providing the opportunities to help every person with dementia continue to do the things they want to do and cinemas are central to this aim.
From your first family trip to the big screen to seeing the latest blockbusters with friends as a teenager, film is an immersive experience which can leave a profound and lasting impact on an individual. It can promote activity and stimulation of the mind; be an important tool for reminiscence, and is often associated with relaxation, engagement and, above all, enjoyment. By developing an understanding of dementia, cinemas can make a huge difference to people living with dementia.
This guide gives best practice advice on how to run dementia-friendly screenings and shares successful case studies from organisations already running. It aims to spread awareness of dementia-friendly screenings and encourages cinemas of all sizes to get involved.
We have also prepared a dementia friendly survey to assist with gathering data at your screenings.
Access the guide, along with further resources in the downloads section.
Jo attended Opening our Doors: Inclusive Cinema in Glasgow 2019 to run a workshop on marketing diverse titles for audiences.
“One of things I enjoy most about working on grassroots and outreach marketing on film projects is the sheer diversity of campaigns you can be involved with as well as the creative freedom you can exercise on the below the line activity associated with these projects.
“As cinemas, community cinemas or festivals its imperative you treat grassroots/outreach marketing as an integral part of your audience development programme – you’ll need to nurture and cultivate these relationships over time.
“Look at your programme at a whole and find the common links between films – look at I, Daniel Blake and Nae Pasaran! for instance, there is definitely a crossover in terms of the politics or looking at young empowered female led films like Patti Cake$ and Skate Kitchen. Be as strategic as you can with your programming.
“Organisations and individuals you engage with will become your ambassadors and champions so its important you keep the conversations with them going even during your quieter periods or between events.
“Also as local organisations you’re a unique position to understand the sensitivities and culture of your community, this is a massive advantage – think of all the knowledge you have and how it can be best used!”
Women in Film & TV (UK) is the leading membership organisation for women working in creative media in the UK and part of an international network of over 13,000 women. Members of our organisation come from a broad range of professions spanning the entire creative-media industry.
This resource is made up of a Powerpoint presentation with activities and teacher’s notes designed to enhance your experience of visiting the Into Film festival and can be used before or after viewing a film that is part of the Year of the Woman – Empowered Voices strand. You can cherry-pick the activities in this … More
Watch these videos to find out more information on how to fundraise.
Growing up, Chapter Arts Centre’s Anim18 Project Coordinator (and our FEDS trainee) Umulkhayr Mohamed thought that a career in film wouldn’t be a possibility for her. Ahead of our upcoming I.D. (Inclusion & Diversity) Screening Day, read her thoughts on what we should be doing to try and finally overcome this. A career in film … More
By registering for National Inclusion Week, you’ll be the first to receive new fact sheets, tools, helpful information and lots more! To get you started, five Daily Challenges offer practical actions for you to help make inclusion an everyday reality. Fact sheets give you some great practical tips and knowledge on inclusion. And webinars and … More
The ambition of this toolkit is to help your organisation – whether business, public sector or charitable – support the mental health and wellbeing of your employees. It will help you take positive actions to build a culture that champions good mental health and provide a greater understanding for how to help those who need more support.
We set out to find out what the barriers were to building a strong d/Deaf audience in the UK. We conducted a survey of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences, a focus group of Deaf people and also a survey of exhibitors to understand their experience with developing d/Deaf audiences. 97.5% of respondents to our … More
This guide includes a synopsis, questions to ask before and after watching the film, review writing tips, extension activities and suggestions of what to watch next in your film club.
