Ormeau Community Cinema on 'Films from Italia'
We recently caught up with Belfast's Ormeau Community Cinema to discuss their successful 'Films From Italia' festival and how to expand film programming.
Tell us a bit about your community cinema.
We are Ormeau Community Cinema, based on the Ormeau area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. We screen a diverse range of films bimonthly, bringing our cinema to various venues along the Ormeau Road. One of our goals is to introduced films to our local audience that they may not have experienced before. Not just from Western cinema but movies from all around the world.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind ‘Films from Italia’ and your journey putting the programme together?
A few years prior we ran a festival highlighting movies using the Arab language. During our AGM this year we considered bringing back the ‘Films From…’ festival idea, but with a different language. This festival could be run every year, with each iteration highlighting a new country or region. We decided to collaborate with Italian PhD student Nicole Marinaro, who would curate the festival and provide an introduction before each screening. After a few meetings with Nicole, we landed on three titles that would best encapsulate the history of Italian Cinema: Rome, Open City (1945), Cinema Paradiso (1988) and Happy as Lazzaro (2018).
Tell us about the audience reactions to the films in programme.
The reaction to our Films from Italia festival was extremely positive. Our screening of Rome Open City sold out and Cinema Paradiso was our largest turnout so far this year. We used an audience survey to find out what people thought of the event, with attendees noting that the diverse range of titles and in-depth introduction by the curator as particular highlights. We also had informal chats with some audience members after the screenings; where we discussed what we liked about the films as well as sharing suggestions of what we could show in the future.
How has the programme impacted your community?
One of our aims for this festival was to gain international audience members. We are pleased to reveal that 40% of our audience from across the three screenings were from somewhere other than the UK, and that 10% of our audience returned for more than one event. For us, Films from Italia has strengthened our sense of community with the cinema. In the weeks prior we have seen audience members from the festival return to subsequence screenings, and a bigger involvement of people messaging us online.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about expanding their own programme and trying something different?
While it is great to have a programme of films highlighting an eclectic list of titles; hosting a mini festival allows you to focus on a specific theme, genre or language. Running films on subsequent nights requires a lot more work and focus; but if it is marketed correctly and organised well, it gives you an opportunity to create a buzz within your community and an event that they won’t forget. Some advice for running a mini festival would be to choose titles that are renowned within the theme, genre or language of your festival idea. If you are highlighting films from a specific country, try collaborating with someone from that country who con provide insight or an introduction prior to the film. Finally, make sure you have surveys (both digital and paper based) to fid out what your audience thought of the event.