INDEPENDENT CINEMAS

BY M A I S I E S M I T H

WHY DO INDEPENDENT CINEMAS EXIST?They exist to bring a wider range of films to a wider range of audiences. There primary aims are to promote diversity in exhibition content, audience and location. To develop a culturally-led approach to an economically sustainable independent exhibition sector and to provide access to industry leading exhibitor training.

MAIN ACTIVITIES OF AN INDEPENDENT CINEMA • Film booking and programming for cinemas.• Training and events for cinemas, festivals and film society staff.• Distribution of films that would not otherwise find an audience.• Consultancy and providing advice.• Developing audiences for world cinema and artists’ film.

THE INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE• The Independent Cinema Office (ICO) is the national support organisation for independent exhibitors of all kinds including cinemas, film festivals and film societies. 

• We act as programming advisors, distributors, consultants, development agents, and providers of training and other services.  We have spent almost a decade developing successful models in this sector, building capacity to bring a wider range of films to a wider range of audiences.

• In the last 9 years 87% of the exhibition sector has engaged with at least one of the ICO’s services.  We have delivered partnership projects with some of the biggest arts centres in Europe, for example the London Children’s Film Festival at the Barbican, as well as some of the smallest festivals and film societies in the UK.

• Complementing our wide ranging connections with the exhibition sector, we also have excellent working relationships with all UK distributors (including a sub-licensing archive deal with Studio Canal), a range of international sales agents and a number of independent producers.  We have worked in partnership with organisations such as the FDA, First Light, BAFTA, Europa Cinemas, the Guardian Culture network, Cineworld, Frieze, and the Tate.  We have extensive regular contacts in both the film and art press and all our distribution projects have received extensive national press coverage.  Our training programmes include speakers from organisations as diverse as the Royal Opera House, Radio 4’s Front Row, the Berlinale and Warner Brothers.  Our relationships have thrived through our reputation for delivering high quality, successful projects.

• The ICO is a unique organisation in specialised cinema – our business model is based on an integrated approach whereby our work with distributors allows us to secure previews for screening days; our consultancy work enables us to gain insight into different business models which we can then share in our one to one surgeries; our training programmes draw on our relationship with the commercial industry and our distribution projects benefit from our relationship with cinemas, film festivals and film societies.

• Our distribution projects have achieved growth of 300% over 8 years for specialised film in the UK, success achieved through experimentation and experience – understanding what tools are required at the beginning of projects to make them succeed.

TEN INDEPENDENT CINEMAS • Genesis, London• The Rex, Berkhamsted• The Corner house, Manchester• The Electric, Birmingham• The Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne• Haringey Independent Cinema• Shortwave Cinema• Movie Starr• Independent Cinema Office• The Rio Cinema

INDEPENDENT CINEMA LISTINGS• Independent cinemas normally show films of the action genre, and

most of the films I have listed are rated 15, which shows that the audience is mainly teenagers. Some do show the blockbusters to produce money to create more films as all of the profit goes to creating more films of better quality. Also they show older films from the 80s (relating back to the older audience), this creates a larger target audience so the cinema create more income.

HOME CINEMA IN MANCHESTER

A BIGGER SPLASH• A Bigger Splash is a 15 and was directed by

Luca Guadagnino. • Synopsis: A sensuous portrait of desire,

jealousy and rock and roll from the director of I Am Love, A Bigger Splash concerns a recuperating rock legend whose holiday is interrupted by the arrival of an iconoclastic record producer and former flame. Featuring terrific performances from Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson, it’s also a work of great visual beauty.

RAMS • Rams is a 15 and was directed by Grímur

Hákonarson.• Synopsis: In a remote Icelandic farming

valley, two brothers who haven’t spoken in 40 years have to come together in order to save what’s dearest to them – their sheep. This funny, beautifully moving and stunningly shot festival highlight (it won the Cannes Un Certain Regard prize) is one of those increasingly rare delights, a film that makes you re-appraise what is most vital in life.

KING JACK • King Jack is a 15 and was directed by Felix

Thompson.• Synopsis: Jack is a scrappy fifteen year-old kid

stuck in a run-down small town. Trapped in a violent feud with a cruel older bully and facing another bout of summer school, Jack’s got all the problems he can handle. So when Jack’s aunt falls ill and his runty younger cousin must stay with him for the weekend, the last thing Jack wants to do is look after him. Set over a hazy summer weekend, King Jack is a tough and tender coming-of-age story about friendship and finding happiness in rough surroundings.

THE REVENANT • The revenant is a 15 and was directed by

Alejandro González Iñárritu. • Synopsis: Deep in the unchartered American

wilderness, hunter Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is severely injured and left for dead by a traitorous member of his team, John Fitzgerald (Hardy). With sheer will as his only weapon, Glass must navigate a hostile environment, a brutal winter and warring tribes in a relentless quest to survive and exact vengeance on Fitzgerald. Inspired by true events, The Revenant is directed and co-written by Mexican Academy Award winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman).

BONE TOMAHAWK • Bone Tomahawk is a 18 and was directed by S.

Craig Zahler. • Synopsis: When a group of cannibal savages

kidnaps settlers from the small town of Bright Hope, a team of gunslingers, led by Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell), sets out to bring them home. But their enemy is more ruthless than anyone could have imagined, putting their mission – and survival itself – in serious jeopardy. A sharply scripted synthesis of Cannibal Holocaust via The Descent, Bone Tomahawk is a complete riot. Violent, irreverent and funny, it’s a genuine cult item.

SPOTLIGHT • Spotlight is a 15 and was directed by Thomas

McCarthy.• Synopsis: Spotlight tells the riveting true story of the

Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal, and government establishment, starting a wave of revelations around the world. Directed by Academy Award-nominee Tom McCarthy, Spotlight is a tense, investigative dramatic-thriller, tracing the steps to one of the biggest cover-ups in modern times.

ROOM • Room is a 15 and was directed by Lenny Abrahamson.• Synopsis: Based on the Booker-shortlisted bestseller by

Irish-Canadian novelist Emma Donoghue, Room is a tale of survival and endurance that is by turns harrowing, suspenseful and wondrous. Recounting the story of a mother and child escaping from the captivity in which they have been held for several years, this visionary drama explores the trauma of being stolen from the world – and the marvel of discovering it for the first time. Rigorously adhering to the novel’s subjective point of view, Roomshows us only what the captured child himself sees, brilliantly contrasting extraordinary suffering with the equally extraordinary beauty – and challenges – of ordinary life. A triumph for director Lenny Abrahamson (Frank), the film also features exemplary performances.

MAINSTREAM CINEMA- ODEON • Ticket Price (adult):

£9.95 • Standard Seats, similar

building, roughly 7 screens. • Food and drink: Costa,

Popcorn, Tango ice blasts, Pick and mix, soft drinks, chocolate etc. 

INDEPENDENT CINEMA- HOME • Ticket Price (adult):

£8.50• Bigger, sofa-style

seats, glass building, live theatre, art, bookshop.• Food and drink:

Restaurant, snacks.

CRAMPHORN THEATRE• The Cramphorn Theatre is situated in the

heart of Chelmsford's West End, programming a wide variety of entertainment including: concerts, plays, ballet, pantomime, opera, jazz, dance, musicals, comedy, film and live music. Below is an image of the theatre, the listings of movies showing and the website.

CHELMSFORD FILM CLUB• Chelmsford Film Club was founded in 1987 and  aims to

show some of the best in independent, art-house and world cinema.

• All films are screened at the Cramphorn Theatre in Chelmsford, and start at 8pm (unless otherwise indicated).  The theatre has a licenced bar, available from 7pm, and a modern, fully-digital projection system.

• Each season’s programme is led by members’ choices, and provides a selection of new releases and reissued classics across a variety of genres and themes. The season runs from September through to May.

• Chelmsford Film Club welcomes members and guests. • Our success and continuation is dependent on the

loyalty and enthusiasm of our members.