Film Hub Midlands was the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) lead on Major Programmes, whose aim was to deliver a cross-FAN, UK-wide programme of creative, accessible and culturally ambitious screenings and events to reach key target audiences.
This included the delivery of two annual cross-FAN programmes of screenings and events, Film Feels and Blockbuster, the latter in response to the theme of the annual BFI ‘Blockbuster’ programme, which you can read about here.
The aims of the cross-FAN Major Programmes was to:
- Increase audience engagement with film and deepen the quality of cultural experience
- Increase the confidence of FAN members to screen a wider range of films
- Boost the engagement of audiences aged 16-30
- Increase the diversity of FAN audiences
- Raise the profile of film as an art form and create a dialogue about its place in our cultural life
Film Feels was the framework for FAN’s UK-wide cinema season, with its own identity and marketing, designed to reach key audiences and support your own programming and audience development. The aim of the initiative was to inspire programming that offers the viewer something extra - whether that’s critical engagement, entertaining special events or rediscovered works presented in new ways - that foregrounds the power of cinema as a collective, bigger than life experience. And to offer audiences a chance to discover films across eras, genres and national borders, and the venues and festivals that curate them.
FILM FEELS CURIOUS
In 2022, we were feeling CURIOUS and asked our members to (re)connect with their wondrous and nerdy selves by asking: what makes you curious? What strange films, peculiar filmmakers, weird genres or forgotten formats have piqued your curatorial interest? Members were invited to engage them audiences with their love for the nice and the strange, with inquisitive and intriguing programmes that stimulated the mind and the senses.
CURIOUS was presented in collaboration with Changing Times, run by Film Hub North.
You can read about the organisations that took part in Film Feels Curious and their activities here.
Highlights, event reviews, essay and articles around the season can be found on Film Feels's dedicated website.
FILM FEELS HOPEFUL
Film Feels Hopeful took place a year after the global Covid-19 pandemic closed our cinemas and restricted physical events, leaving us to yearn for the big screen experience and the simple pleasures of being alone together in the dark. The reopening of cinemas nationwide, although still restricted by social distancing, made us hopeful and wanting to welcome programmes that looked at films imbued with hope, dreams of the future, and new ways of reimagining film itself. We welcomed in-venue, online, and hybrid projects and activities.
For Film Feels Hopeful, we partnered with INDY On Demand to provide an online platform for members to collaborate and participate in the season.
You can read about the organisations that took part in Film Feels Hopeful and their activities here.
Highlights, event reviews, essay and articles around the season can be found on Film Feels's dedicated website.
FILM FEELS CONNECTED
The COVID 19 pandemic pushed us apart physically, but cinemas and their audiences still found ways to come together, through watch parties, exclusive previews, tweet-alongs and VOD//venue partnerships. With this in mind, Film Feels Connected was a season designed to spotlight innovation across BFI FAN, to promote online activity during lockdown and to help cinemas, festivals and societies access support to try out new activity.
FILM FEELS OBSESSION
During the Summer 2019 Film Feels explored all things Obsession. Those of us who are obsessive about cinema know full well that the medium allows us to delve into our deepest desires and obsessions; the joy and community to be found in pursuing your passion, as well as the cautionary tales that obsessive behaviour can bring. Film Feels: Obsession was an opportunity to explore cinematic obsessions- from auteurs to oddballs, imitation to identity theft, Stalkers to Stans - across genres, icons and subtext, giving UK audiences enhanced experiences and critically engaged programming.
Cinemas, festivals and arts producers were invited to present programmes, events and screenings as part of the season. Key titles with FAN subsidy were available as part of the Obsession season.
You can read about some highlights from Film Feels Obsession here.
UPRISING
1968 wasn’t just a seismic year politically – it also produced its fair share of brilliant films, many of them reflecting the tumult of the times. This summer there’s an opportunity to explore the social and cinematic legacy of this unique period, and to join the dots between then and now.
The Uprising: Spirit of 68 season was our pilot season. It ran from May to September 2018, and was underpinned by:
-
- A selection of late 60s restorations previously unavailable in the UK
-
- New releases which resonate with the theme
-
- A wider menu of titles available for direct booking
-
- An online programme showcasing Uprising activity across the UK, supported by a range of marketing assets and a press push linked to BFI Southbank’s May 68 season and the release of Redoubtable
You can read about some highlights from Uprising: Spirit of 68 here.