Day four of the Bologna Lab covered co-curation, access and inclusion, including approaches to staff recruitment & management, and discussions on Collaborate To Innovate.
To begin the day, Letterboxd’s Ella Kemp joined us via Zoom to discuss cinemas use of Letterboxd HQ accounts. Letterboxd is a platform dedicated to social film discovery with 14 million members who are rating, reviewing and listing films. And not just young people, 25 – 44-year-olds making up the biggest segment of users, with the majority not working in film or television. Letterboxd HQ accounts are the industry tier account, allowing organisation to list films, link you social media and post links/write news stories to share on the platform. Users are able to find posts relating to films, which Ella said is especially useful if you’re programming niche films or films with a specific audience. Cinemas can now also list showtimes, which will appear on a films page showing screenings taking place near the user. Ella said that European audiences are on the platform, especially in Germany, and are keen to promote and uplift niche cinema, especially via their Shelf Life newsletter by Katie Rife which focuses on restorations, reissues and repertory screenings.
Next up cinema exhibitors Madeleine Probst (Watershed, UK), Nataša Šimunov (Kino Valli / Pula Film Festival, Croatia) and Wolfgang Pielmeier (Stadtkino, Austria) presented on their community driven programming, helping them expand their reach and bring in new voices to film programming.
Madeleine put both her Watershed and Cinema Rediscovered hats on to present on co-curation and creation at their Il Cinema Ritrovato inspired film festival Cinema Rediscovered. Rep and archive programming now represents 10% of Watershed admissions. Maddy highlighted how important collaboratively with programmers and creatives, including designer Beth Morris, which resulted in their Other Ways of Seeing approach which brings new programming voices into the festival. Cinema Rediscovered also partnered with Moonfest to engage East & South Asian communities and Compass Presents to delivery a Bristol Cycle Cinema to engage young audiences, working with co-curators in areas on the outskirts of Bristol to bring them into the city centre. Cinema Rediscovered also ran a film critic workshops, one of the first in Europe when it started, to give up and coming film critics an video easiest opportunities to network and make work which amplifies the festival, with this year’s festival commissioning alumni of the programme to write about the programme. Maddy also highlighted how useful Letterboxd HQ has been for the festival, offering a space for their editorial content.
Nataša presented on their project ‘Kino 15+’ which brings together a group of young cinema-lovers who they support to programme films for young people. The young people create the marketing and decide the accompanying elements to enhance their events, which including modern classics like Trainspotting, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Fight Club. Nataša explained that mentorship allowed the young people to gain an understanding of the processes of programming but they take the lead, organising concerts, quizzes and games alongside the films. The young people have ownership over the events, deciding the ticket price should be €3, and have more followers on their Instagram account than the actual cinema. The young people also create their own short films which also screen within the cinema. Nataša says that this project engages young people with the aim they continue to engage in cinema into their adult life as viewers and in the industry.
Wolfgang spoke about community building through collaboration within Stadtkino and film festivals. Wolfgang emphasised working with the communities you want to engage is essential to making a programme for these communities, saying he learned from their failures of 2pm children focused programming which didn’t fit within their daytime nap schedule. Stadtkino also run 6am screenings, which attract hundreds of people each time it runs monthly, as people enjoy watching a film before beginning their day. Stadtkino also runs a youth focused programmed, Kino & Krawall, with university students who programme films they want to see on big screening including Sister Act, Climax and 10 Things I Hate About You, including a Zoom with the director Gil Junger. Wolfgang highlighted the diverse partners they have when it comes to events, including those running conferences, feminist activists and doggy-day screenings. Wolfgang said working with people means they bring their own crowd, people the cinema wouldn’t reach otherwise. Wolfgang also spoke about Slash, a film festival that addressed the under-screening of fantastic and horror cinema, tapping into and developing a community around the festival with shared interests – brining drag queens and wrestling shows into the cinema.
After a refreshing espresso break participants returned to hear from fellow cinema exhibitors about inclusive approaches to staff recruitment, management and skills development.
First up was Aisling O’Brien from Lighthouse in Ireland, explaining their approach to programming staff picks. Lighthouse’s events team enjoy creating event elements, including letting audience try on the pregnancy belly from 10 Things I Hate About You and recreate Midsommer outfits. Allowing staff to contribute to programme and highlight their involvement to audiences has resulted in a collaborative approach which harnesses staff enthusiasm whilst upskilling them in the processes of programming.
Sami Abdul-Razzak, from the UK’s Independent Cinema Office presented on the ways ICO is working to support a more inclusive workforce in their own organisation and across the film sector in the UK. ICO’s research found that the film sector workforce doesn’t represent UK in terms of race and disability, and they’re keen to address this. Sami explained he’s a fan of their FEDS programme having came through it himself! He also mentioned the Jobs Board the ICO host on their website, for any exhibition and cinema jobs across the UK, which is the most visited page on their site. They have applied specific requirements for those posting jobs there to ensure fair requirements and employment practices. In terms of their own recruitment and employment practices, ICO continue to develop their approach, including no degree requirements, online information sessions and the use of accessible language when advertising. The ICO do an anonymous shortlisting process so names, age and gender is removed when being accessed and for interviewees offer reasonable adjustments and in-person travel. Sami said he development his own skills within the ICO, having the opportunity to expand his programming experience through the ICO’s online screening platform and public speaking at events like the Lab!
Madeleine was back again, this time discussing Watershed’s staff culture led by values. Madeleine presented on ways in which the cinema are working towards a more inclusive organisation culture, which required different approaches for different staff and situations. Watershed shut the cinema down for a day and spent time together as the whole cinema team, learning, connecting and creating values in collaboration with each other. Watershed’s values, ‘inclusive, transparent, responsible, kind and hopeful’, helped clarify how all staff want to work and be supported. Maddy talks about flexibility and clarity being key to all processes or recruitment, leading again with their values, so people can show their best selves. Clear pathways to information, for potential and current staff, to make clear how any issues can be dealt with is also key to inclusion. Maddy also highlighted anti-racism training as being an intervention that can support better spaces for more diverse staffing and open up conversations. Maddy underlined the necessity for ongoing training across all staff, for their own development and to support them to help create an inclusive work environment.
The participants then enjoyed some fresh air and fresh ideas sharing with a workshop discussing how they could develop their own approaches to staff recruitment, management and skills development. And then lunch!
The afternoon session welcomed back Fatima Djoumer, CEO of Europa Cinemas, to present on Europa Cinema’s new Boot Camps initiative. Fatima explained that Boot Camps are part of Europa Cinema’s holistic approach to supporting cinemas to develop their skills and knowledge. Boot Camps will allow local and regional training through self-reliant activities, with each Boot Camp being created by, and for, network members. You can read the full Boot Camp guidance and application information on our website.
Madeleine then explained Collaborate To Innovate, talking participants through the key points of the CTI guidelines, highlighting the objectives of the initiative: Innovation, Collaboration and Sustainability. Collaborate to Innovate aims to boost innovation by facilitating and funding collaboration among cinemas across Europe. You can read the full Collaborate To Innovate information on our website.
To put into context what a CTI project can look like, and some of the highlights and challenges they can produce, we heard from Marie Unt (Tartu Elektriteater, Estonia) and Aleksandra Szczepaniak-Klukowska (Gdynia, Poland) who have undertaken CTI projects.
Marie Unt presented on their process of implementing Kinola from the ticket seller’s perspective. Marie began her presentation by explaining that the ticket selling software isn’t just about selling tickets but about being able to properly manage the process of contacting, understanding and segmenting audiences. Kinola simplifies processes for cinemas, including importing film information to cinema websites, booking systems and distribution reports. Tartu Elektriteater tested out the system and is always improving it, for their own use but also to ensure it’s effectiveness across all the cinemas which use it. Although collaborating can take time, Marie said that Elektriteater are enjoyed this part of the process, which also allows them to be flexible for cinemas. Eight cinemas already use the software and Tartu Elektriteater are keen to keep expanding and connecting with cinemas seeking ticket selling solutions.
Aleksandra Szczepaniak-Klukowska presented on Gdynia’s project Face to Face with European Cineme, which bought film events focusing on specific countries to young audiences, including ‘Italian Day’, ‘German Day’ and ‘French Day’. Films were enhanced with themed foots, entertainers and discussion about the countries cinema, which Aleksandra explained was a way to educate young people about European culture and cinema without being boring. As a small team, event organisation did present some challenges, as did cooperation with partners as they face language barriers. However, young audiences were involved and interested, with the cinema gaining important insight into what young people want and enjoy. The cinema partnerships Gdynia developed have also been beneficial, the venues have shared problems, insights and learnings, and are continuing to work together.
The cinema exhibitors then split up into groups to each imagine a possible Collaborate To Innovate project and then pitch their ideas, which included the shared creation of descriptive subtitles and audio description across countries, events to platform short films and monthly country-wide film festivals. Ideas which started in an Innovation Lab have grown into fully realised Collaborate To Innovate project so we may even have these projects presented in future Labs!