Director Catharine Des Forges On The Launch Of Virtual Film Platform The Cinema of Ideas

A new virtual film platform, The Cinema of Ideas, is the latest initiative from London-based organisation Independent Cinema Office (ICO). The Cinema of Ideas will give local independent cinemas the opportunity to enrich their film programmes and connect with the widest possible audiences, providing a forum for discussion around issues of race, disability, gender, sexuality and class. This project, which was developed in response to challenges faced by cinemas due to Covid-19, is supported by the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery. The Cinema of Ideas will collaborate with filmmakers, artists, archivists, film historians, film critics, film collectives and emerging curators to showcase the work they do to explore the full scope of contemporary film culture and film heritage.

Offering insight into what she hopes to achieve with The Cinema of Ideas, Director of the Independent Cinema Office, Catharine Des Forges tells Something Curated: “We think often the most interesting things that happen in culture are not part of the mainstream, or not what is deemed commercially successful. The most innovative and interesting ideas and movements usually come from the margins. We wanted The Cinema of Ideas to be a space for the widest breadth of what we call cinema – for those films, filmmakers and artists to get some more of the attention they deserve, and to be a space for collaboration and discussion across art forms, and across culture.

We wanted to bring some of those films and discussions to audiences across the UK to our partner cinemas where they may not have the resources or staff to add this kind of programming to their usual offer. The pandemic has been devastating for cultural venues, not just for cinemas but for many arts organisations and at the same time, it has also demonstrated how important they are to their communities and how important the collective experience of cinema and conversations about it are to our individual well being.  So we hope to bring some great films and great conversations to a wider audience!”

Expanding on the thinking behind the initiative’s programming, Des Forges continues: “In general we are interested in things that we think have received scant attention elsewhere and which we think should be shared with a wider audience. That might be archive titles, it might be work that speaks to a specific audience, which is not being catered for elsewhere, or it might be about new talent.” The Cinema of Ideas’ first programme is presented in collaboration with Aleema Gray, Researcher and Community History Curator at the Museum of London, on 26 August at 7pm. Archival Resistance: Rastafari Women in Britain will be hosted by Gray and includes a live discussion panel with pioneering curator of African and African-diaspora cinema June Givanni and writer and journalist Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm.

Alongside the discussion, D. Elmina Davis’ groundbreaking documentary Omega Rising Women of Rastafari will stream from 19 August – 2 September on The Cinema of Ideas platform. “D. Elmina Davis was a filmmaker who was a central part of the Ceddo collective at a time when there were very few black female filmmakers. She was a visionary trailblazer, multi-talented, telling stories and focussing on a community that most people know very little about.  She is sadly no longer with us and we wanted to make her work available to a wider audience (so make it available digitally) and celebrate her and her talent with a new generation,” Des Forges notes.

Future events set to be presented by The Cinema of Ideas include a new essay film on cinema memory from award-winning filmmaker Sarah Wood that will incorporate over a hundred personal love letters to cinema from artists, filmmakers, and audiences; a collaborative project with Dr June Givanni, curator and director of June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive, Melanie Hoyes, Industry Inclusion Executive at the BFI and Jan Asante, Curator at Think Cinematic will explore the Black Film Bulletin archive; and a series of talks focusing on directors, writers, artists, curators and collectives who have previously worked with the ICO.



Feature image: D. Elmina Davis, Omega Rising Women of Rastafari, 1988. Credit: Monika Baker