The passion and dedication evident from all of the participants for what they do, a refreshing change from other parts of the film industry
The first BFI FAN CON in Belfast (11-13 September) brought together over 150 attendees from across the BFI Film Audience Network. We were really lucky to have such an engaged and motivated group, representing a real variety of types of film organisations and with representation from every BFI FAN region and nation.
Throughout the three days of activity, there was a real sense of peer-to-peer learning through case studies from successful BFI FAN-supported projects and a strengthening of the professional network in independent film. Chances for the UK-wide sector to come together are infrequent, so it was heartening to see this chance being taken up so enthusiastically.
Attendees have had the opportunity to give feedback about their experience of BFI FAN CON, some of which we’ve highlighted in this piece. Encouragingly, 99% said they would recommend the event to others, and 96% said that they had achieved what they hoped to at the event.
The conference was envisaged as something that would put the BFI Film Audience Network membership front and centre, and when an Open Call for session ideas was run in June, there were over 50 responses, showing a huge diversity of projects and ideas and a great appetite for sharing learnings from within the industry itself.
The distinctive cultural context of Belfast undoubtedly added to the sense of exploration and exchange. The first time a large-scale BFI FAN event had taken place in Northern Ireland, we were bowled over by the welcome and support that we received from the NI film community. We were brilliantly hosted by the iconic Queen’s Film Theatre (QFT) which has run as an independent cinema since 1968. Working with QFT, a part of Queen’s University Belfast, helped open up the historic spaces of the university to us. Northern Ireland Screen were partners on the conference, and their contributions underlined how impressively connected different areas of film are there, including production, archive, distribution and exhibition.
We also had our BFI FAN team on the ground, Film Hub NI, who went above and beyond in ushering the wider network into their cultural landscape – arranging the best tour guides of Belfast, recruiting a family member’s band to provide traditional music at our reception and arranging an industry premiere of a new digital version of a landmark film of the NI conflict that has been rarely presented in recent years. Cal (1984) features stunning performances from Helen Mirren and John Lynch in an ill-fated love story that captures the omnipresent tensions and fear of daily life during the conflict and made for a fascinating Opening Night event.
Sessions
The programme was very strong, with a wide range of topics and plenty of space and time to ask questions
There were 21 sessions and workshops over the two main days of the conference spread out across three spaces so attendees could choose the most relevant session for their organisational priorities.
Michael Pattison (Alchemy Film & Arts) and Yi Wang (Queer East) made us rethink how film festivals connect to and serve their communities through intentional year-round work (Alchemy) and through reimagining the structures of curation and programming to build new connections and open new creative possibilities (Queer East).
Mosa Mpetha chaired a timely conversation on how exhibitors can harness the new wave of audiences for repertory film with James Bell from the BFI, who works on the Film on Film Festival, Steph Read from Watershed, who spoke about Cinema Re-discovered and Abiba Coulibaly, freelance curator, who has been delivering a series of screening events in non-traditional spaces across South London. What was clear from this session was the appetite for repertory film from young audiences, the enthusiasm and passion they have in discovering work for the first time, as well as the ways in which repertory film is an important tool in developing new audiences and in attracting different communities to engage with venues.
The BFI’s Jack Powell drew back the curtain to give us a really clear picture of national film policy formation, how National Lottery funding works, some of the parameters that the BFI is operating within and things to look for in the future during this period of change.
Steve Mapp and David Sin shared some of the learnings and approaches of BFI FAN’s Revisiting Your Cinema Business Model course, which will be recruiting for its second edition in 2025, offering a way of building financial resilience through an unquestionably challenging era for many exhibitors. Attendees were particularly engaged with the session’s discussion of data-driven decision-making and the consideration of customer journeys.
Jen Smith gave us the latest on the establishment of the newly-formed Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) and the much-needed role it will provide for the sector, and Delphine Lievens was able to provide feedback on the progress of Escapes, the BFI’s UK-wide drive for new audiences and the opportunities for exhibitors to get involved.
Seeing the map with all the FAN activity was a good reminder of how far we’ve come as a network
Independent cultural consultant Lara Ratnaraja led Gather, a space for Global Majority workers from BFI FAN organisations. Participants took the opportunity to share thoughts and experiences relating to their areas of focus in the sector — in many instances promoting representation on screen and inclusivity amongst audiences — all within the context of belonging to underrepresented groups.
Save Our Cinema proved an inspiring and energetic session as Mimi Turtle from Strand Arts Centre in Belfast, Wendy Cook from Hyde Park in Leeds, and Claire Vaughan from Chapter in Cardiff talked through the journey of re-development, fundraising, stakeholder relationships and sheer goodwill to build organisations that are central to their communities in what can often be a challenging environment.
People who were hoping for time-saving hacks in independent consultant Jocelyn Burnham’s thrilling session on AI for cinema learned (with the help of flying elephants) that we are perhaps asking questions of the new technology in the wrong way and that some of the impact it is likely to have will be for as yet unimagined uses which will reveal themselves as we experiment with its capabilities.
No flying elephants featured in Freelance Community Coordinator Olivia James’ session on nature restoration, but there were fascinating examples of how cinemas can engage and support the natural world, including creating nature-friendly buildings, working in partnership with wildlife organisations, like the RSPB, having team away days at nature reserves, taking part in citizen science projects and greening pension funds.
Another vision of the future, or perhaps the present that we’re only just catching up with, came from Jemma Buckley (BFI Our Screen Heritage) and Elspeth Vischer (Northern Ireland Now), who really clearly outlined the importance of collecting contemporary moving image and outlining how this practice can be a real opportunity for exhibitors to build connections with the communities they serve.
I came away from each session feeling I had learned something new
Linnea Pettersson (BFI FAN Champion for Socio-Economic Inclusion) opened the We’ll Come to You: People-Centred Approaches to Film Exhibition session by framing the conversation around how we evaluate who our audiences are. She was then joined by Morvern Cunningham (WHALE Arts), who emphasised the power of failure and everything we could learn from it. Elizabeth Costello (Leigh Film Society) led us through how they have grown from film society to having their own venue through continuous community engagement.
FAN EDI Champion Charlie Little and Paul Lofting of Paramount shared their personal journeys, which led them to campaign for more descriptive subtitles in screenings for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. Paul updated on Paramount’s UK-wide campaign to roll out preview screenings with descriptive subtitles and BSL training for cinema staff – marking a potentially big shift in how many of these screenings are provided moving forward.
Workshops and Training
Paul and Charlie’s discussion was followed the next morning by some excellent Deaf Awareness Training from Naomi Fujitani of the British Deaf Association. Paramount Pictures is running these sessions in London and online in the coming weeks in the hope that exhibitors will increase the number of screenings they run with descriptive subtitles.
Amy Smart, Emily Steele-Dias and Rob Manley shared learnings from their Spotlight programme about improving audience choice and access to indie films in culturally underserved communities. Advice included going to the place, getting to know the people, building partnerships with the organisations already doing great work in the area and to really aim for self-sustaining screenings so the project continues to grow beyond its start-up period.
Brand strategist Bernadine Brewer (Tapestry) skillfully structured her workshop, asking groups to think through a brand strategy for real organisations whose identities remained hidden until a final big reveal. The session really challenged members to examine the invisible threads already existing within their organisation that can be woven together in a consistent brand story and impactful sense of place for their organisation.
The playing of the innovative Sustainability in the Arts board game, facilitated by one of its developers, Bruno Castro, provoked really interesting discussions about how we balance different aspects of economic, human, social and environmental sustainability within our organisation in real life. It’s a really good starting point for building a strategic and balanced sustainability plan, and you can play it in your organisation.
Networking
Film Exhibitor and Access Worker Midnight Memphis drew from their accessible exhibition practice, creating a specifically relaxed and accessible networking opportunity for people who could benefit from a way of meeting colleagues away from the more typical opportunities provided by crowded and unstructured receptions and meals which do not work for everyone.
Thursday evening gave delegates the opportunity to Network in the impressively panelled Canada Room of Queens University Belfast’s stunning Lanyon Building, accompanied by an Irish traditional music band before heading into the Great Hall for a sit-down dinner. A good chance to see how many luminaries we could recognise from the many hanging portraits and get to know some new people in small groups. All catering was vegetarian in order to reduce the conference’s environmental impact.
On Friday, the conference came to an official close, though nearly 50 of the attendees still summoned the energy for a cinematic tour of Belfast City Centre that peeled back some of the historical layers that have shaped the city from rebellion, industrialisation, civil strife and renewal.
Until next time…
We close on this report with a thank you once more to everyone who made a contribution to the event, including speakers, attendees, hosts, our partners at NI Screen, sponsors CinemaNext and Filmbankmedia and, of course, the BFI and the National Lottery whose support made the event possible.
If you weren’t able to join us, we’ll be making recordings of as many of the sessions as possible available very soon, and we hope to see you at the next edition which will be coming in 2026.
