Screen B14

Date: October 2024Category: Screenings

Tell us a bit about your community cinema.

Screen B14 is a community cinema based in Kings Heath, Birmingham. We were founded on values of affordability and accessibility, and are determined to bring an eclectic, global programme to our area along with supporting local independent businesses and outreach projects. We do pop-up screenings across Kings Heath at bars, cafes and bookshops, as well as running a monthly alternative night at the Mockingbird Cinema in the city centre.

Why did you apply for Glow and what were you hoping to get out of the coaching?

I applied for Glow because, having developed a regular audience for our screenings, I felt like it was a great opportunity to take some dedicated time to expanding our thinking regarding structure, community collaboration, programming and beyond. Running a Community Cinema can be a confusing undertaking, with lots of grey areas, but Cinema For All have always provided timely advice and guidance which has helped Screen B14 to grow more confident in our decisions and vision.

Why did you programme Gregg Araki’s Nowhere?

We programmed Gregg Araki’s Nowhere as part of our series of Monday night screenings at the Mockingbird. This night is centred on underseen classics that aren’t available on streaming services and are notoriously quite hard to find the film rights for. The thinking is to give audiences (outside of London) a chance to see some of the most spectacular and unique films from across genres, with a focus on the alternative and often outlandish.

Having tracked down the rights for Nowhere from Le Bureau Films (based in Paris), we were able to show the Midlands premiere of the new 4K restoration of the film. To show a film that is unapologetically chaotic and angsty and stylish was an exhilarating experience. The film brought together a young and passionate audience, who will hopefully go on to explore many other films off the beaten track.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about applying for Cinema For All coaching? 

The coaching is an invaluable chance to properly design the next steps for your community cinema. Running a community cinema can often mean falling from one screening to the next, but the Cinema For All coaching programme encourages you to pause and re-evaluate your values, vision and priorities. The Cinema For All team are brilliantly calm and encouraging, and the opportunity to ask questions and consider new possibilities has given me a new lease of life when it comes to deciding how Screen B14 can best make an impact in the local area.

Why is community cinema important to your community?

Community cinema is a vitally important way of bringing people together around film, food, drinks and music. Over the past few years, we have provided a diverse range of affordable film screenings right on people’s doorsteps. We have participated in fundraisers for local charities, raising money and awareness for causes close to our community’s heart. We have run short film nights that have provided opportunities for members of our community to exhibit their films and share script ideas. We have built lots of great relationships with each other as a group, and with those in our wider community.