Cornerhouse is delighted to be one of eight national organisations that will be working with the BFI and regional partners to bring more specialised and independent British film to UK audiences in new and exciting ways.
In a ground-breaking new deal for UK audiences the BFI Film Audience Network (BFI FAN), takes a significant step forward as the BFI names eight lead partners (Film Hub Lead Organisations) appointed to help bring diverse and exciting films and events to audiences right across the UK.
The eight Film Hubs across the UK will work collaboratively with partner organisations in their local areas and, together with the BFI, will form a new Film Audience Network strategic leadership group to ensure a joined-up UK wide approach. Cornerhouse will lead the Film Hub North West Central which covers Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire.
The other organisations leading the Film Hubs are: Broadway Nottingham and Cambridge Film Trust; Chapter, Cardiff; Film London; QFT (Queen’s Film Theatre), Belfast; Regional Screen Scotland; the University of Brighton; and Watershed, Bristol. The BFI will announce more partners in the coming months as BFI FAN’s offer widens across the UK.
Film-watching is one of the UK’s most loved and important cultural activities, but many film fans cannot easily access a diverse range of films and BFI FAN aims to change this. BFI FAN brings film, education, community, exhibition, archive and events experts together to offer more choice and grow new audiences, particularly for specialised and independent British film – a key priority for the BFI, as set out in Film Forever, its five year plan for UK film.
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI comments:
‘BFI FAN is an important and exciting new initiative that goes to the heart of the BFI’s vision to bring a greater choice of film to audiences, no matter where they live in the UK. BFI FAN enables a whole range of partners across the UK – already experts at understanding their local and regional audiences – to truly work together as a network to the benefit of audiences and film makers.’
The eight organisations named today will collectively receive BFI lottery funding of up to £7.5m over four years (2013-17) to bring new film experiences to UK audiences, no matter where they live.
Speaking on behalf of the eight Film Hubs, Ron Inglis, Chief Executive of Regional Screen Scotland said:
‘The collaborative process that has led to the creation of BFI Film Audience Network has illustrated a huge appetite for change and improvement at grassroots level and we look forward to building on this. In ten years time, we want to look back on the setting-up of BFI FAN as a turning point for film culture in the UK: the start of a repositioning and understanding of the importance of film as a form of entertainment but as well as a way of engaging audiences in ideas, dialogue and debate about culture and society.’
The BFI FAN funding will be used to support a range of audience development activities at a local, regional and cross-regional level, and the network will support major national celebrations of cinema across each of the Film Hub regions, with the ambition to stage some simultaneously. Film Hub activity will be tailored to local audiences and geography, and will include support for touring and archive programmes; pop-up’s and live events; projects aimed at engaging the next generation of film fans and sector led skills training in areas such as programming, marketing, fundraising and technical delivery.
Through FAN, the BFI aims to unite a range of partners including cinema exhibitors, film festivals, educators, film societies, community venues, Regional Film Archives and others. BFI FAN will complement the BFI’s film education initiatives to form a comprehensive new audience development strategy, as set out in the BFI’s Film Forever five-year plan, to help put film at the centre of UK cultural life.
BFI FAN will commence activities in the autumn. Local and regional organisations who are keen to get involved should visit the BFI FAN website for more details.
To get in touch regarding the Film Hub North West Central, please email filmhubnwc@cornerhouse.org
