Cinema First, the cross-industry independent body representing UK cinema exhibition and film distribution, is at the heart of efforts to create and nurture future generations of cinemagoers via its long-standing sponsorship and support of the Into Film Festival.
Into Film, the UK-based charity that puts film at the heart of the educational and personal development of children and young people across the UK, brings the annual festival, one of the largest youth-focused film festivals in the world, to children and young people from five to 19 years old, all around the country.
“In a world in which young people are able to choose all manner of different ways to watch films or other content, the role of the Into Film Festival in reminding children and young people of the unique immersive experience that only the big screen can offer is now perhaps more important than ever,” notes Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UK Cinema Association and a member of the Cinema First leadership team. “All the evidence we have is that if we can encourage young people to take up cinema-going early in life, then it becomes a habit which follows into adulthood – truly today’s children and young people are the audience of tomorrow.”
The festival’s 11th edition took place from November 8-29, 2024, and posted an uptick in attendees, hosting 356,085 youngsters, up from the previous year’s tally of 330,000. There were 2,500 free screenings and events across nearly 500 UK cinemas showing over 60 films.
Partnering with Into Film is good business sense, says Robert Lea, head of screen content at Vue. “To offer children these experiences for free is essential to the long-term health of the industry and developing long-lasting cinema habits.
“Cinema can be a joyous escape,” he adds. “We recognise the important role it can play in education. I remember fondly the most exciting moment of any school year was when the TV was wheeled in to watch a film. Now Into Film offers the opportunity to give children this delight on a whole other scale, with the full big screen experience of the cinema.”
Events included screenings of Bird followed by Q&As with director Andrea Arnold. “I will certainly go again,” says a 14-year-old for whom it was their first time in a cinema. “I’d never been before, and this film was very moving,”
“It was an eye-opening cinematic experience, watching Bird with students my age was astounding,” enthuses another.
The festival works closely with UK distributors of all sizes, including Altitude Films, Dartmouth Films, Disney, Dogwoof, Entertainment One, IMAX, Lionsgate, Magic Light Pictures, Modern Films, MUBI, Paramount Pictures, Park Circus, Signature Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Studiocanal, and Universal Pictures.
“I am a huge fan of the work Into film does and the opportunity its festival provides. For many children it can be their first Introduction to the magic of cinema,” says Rob Huber, managing director of Universal Pictures International, UK and Ireland. “That is so incredibly important for building and inspiring our next generation of audiences and film makers.”
Participating exhibitors include Cineworld, Curzon, Everyman, Odeon, Picturehouse and Vue Cinemas. Their support is vital to the festival’s existence, providing films and venues gratis to Into Film.
“The work Into Film does is not only inspiring, it is vital for our industry,” says John Fletcher, managing director, Paramount Pictures UK.
The 2024 festival kicked off with packed nationwide screenings of UK animation Kensuke’s Kingdom, including one at Cineworld in London’s Leicester Square in the company of the film’s directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry. They discussed the making of the film, a process so lengthy most of the attendees had not been born when the project began.
In Cardiff, the film’s animation studio Bumpy Box was present at a screening, while lead actor Aaron MacGregor took part in a Q&A at an Edinburgh screening and the film’s writer, Frank Cottrell Boyce, answered questions from the young audience in Liverpool.
The festival closed with a ’pupil premiere’ of Disney’s Moana 2 at the Vue in Leicester Square, allowing several hundred London schoolchildren to become some of the very first people in the UK to see Moana’s latest adventure.
“The magic of cinema should be for everyone,” as Lee Jury, SVP, studio marketing, live events, music, The Walt Disney Company EMEA, puts it. “The Into Film Festival’s invaluable work to bring the big screen experience to our youngest audiences, free of charge, makes this a reality. Thanks to them, thousands of young people across the UK have the chance to not only get lost in a film, but also to learn how their favourite stories are brought to life.”
Contact: Sam Wilson, info@intofilm.org
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