Summer season of curious film experiences gets underway

All events as part of Film Feels: Curious, a nationwide celebration of curiosity and cinema officially launched by comedian Joe Lycett, have now been confirmed.

Curiosity is the theme of this year’s Film Feels season from the BFI Film Audience Network, made possible with National Lottery funding, taking place at independent cinemas across the UK following its launch by Joe at Flatpack Festival 2022.

For the first time since 2018’s inaugural Film Feels, event organisers have also partnered with the Screen Heritage programme Changing Times under the unifying theme for this year of CURIOUS.

A total of 27 projects have been funded across all the regions of the UK, including a curated programme of classics by The Place Bedford throughout June and July, a programme as part of London Short Film Festival on July 30th and 31st, and from July 8th, a three-day update of Cinetopia’s Electric Muses programme in partnership with feminist magazine The Debutante – a women-led evening of surrealist film and technologically-enhanced live music in Edinburgh.

In addition, throughout July, the charity Birds’ Eye View, which supports films by women and non-binary people, is touring Queerious both across the country and via streaming on BFI Player. Events will be accompanied by curated live or participatory events in select cinemas to explore the themes of sexual awakenings and re-awakenings, and queer love through a feminist lens.
Venues and organisations including Chester’s Story House, Fabrica of Brighton, Hove and Lewes, Birmingham’sVictoria Park Productions, Derby QUAD and Cornwall Film Festival are also taking part, with events touching upon the forgotten films of the 1990s and 2000s, Queer culture, Filmosophy for Families and more, all of which are designed to connect people through film.

Manon Euler is Major Programmes Manager at Film Hub Midlands, part of BFI FAN. She said: “With CURIOUS, we wanted to take audiences out of the ordinary and down the wonderful rabbit hole of cinema, with intriguing, exciting film programmes that will stimulate the mind and the senses and allow everyone to (re)connect with their wondrous selves.

“There’s absolutely no doubt that these projects will deliver exactly that, with both in-person and virtual options. We’ve been so impressed by the imagination that has gone into the creation of such a varied and intriguing season by programmers at all levels of experience, including young people. We can’t wait to hear what audiences think.”

CURIOUS was chosen as the theme for this celebration as it’s clear as we continue to recover from the worst of the pandemic that bringing people together to experience art collectively and learn more about the people and things around us, is more important than ever.

Over the past four years, Film Feels has funded more than 150 projects and more than 1,000 screenings have taken place across the festival seasons nationwide, with around 40 per cent of increasingly diverse audiences each year being new to the festival. Previous themes have included obsession, uprising, hopeful and connected, with almost £400,000 given to participating programmers in total so far.

Screen Heritage Producer Andy Robson added: “Inspired by our theme and our collective experience of multiple lockdowns, which gave many a new awareness of our communities as well as the wider world around us, this year’s programmers are helping us to both better understand the unfamiliar, and seek solutions.

“Through film’s ability to transport us, illuminate ideas and spark conversation, we can recognise things we may have missed or never considered before, and find new passions together.”

Find more information about the full nationwide programme for CURIOUS, including all participating venues and exhibitors, at filmfeels.co.uk