A PANEL DEBATE ON BIRMINGHAM's ARTHOUSE/INDEPENDENT CINEMA SCENE

It all started with a twitter.

When Dave Harte from Digital Birmingham mentioned that he was writing a blogpost about the delay in art house and non mainstream films reaching Birmingham it sounded like something that needed more than a rant – it needed a debate and an action plan.

http://daveharte.com/birmingham/birmingham-a-cinematic-backwater/

We’ve invited the big film faces from the city  to lead a debate on what needs to happen next. How do we cultivate the venues, the audiences and the distribution channels that will open the floodgates for non mainstream film and prevent us from lingering as a ‘cinematic backwater’? What kind of developments can the local market support?

Speakers include ...

Professor Roger Shannon:

Professor Roger Shannon has been associated with over 20 feature films and his productions have won awards at international film festivals such as Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and Edinburgh.

Roger is currently Professor of Film and Television at Edge Hill University near Liverpool; visiting Honorary Professor in International Film Business at Glasgow Caledonian University and Birmingham City University's Film Fellow. Through his company Swish Productions he develops feature films with new writing and directing talent and undertakes film consultancies.

His beginnings in film included the award-winning Birmingham International Film Festival, after which he set up the network of Regional Film Commissions and the emergence of ‘Media Quarters' in cities such as Birmingham and Sheffield.

Ian Francis:

Ian Francis is co-director of 7 inch cinema which works locally and nationally to put on film screenings of things that people may otherwise not get to see in a wonderfully eclectic array of events and venues.

Building on the 7 inch success, Ian also co-founded the acclaimed Flatpack festival, which has made its way into the national consciousness through receiving rave reviews everywhere from the Guardian to the Lonely planet to the UK Film Council.

Rachel E Carter:

Rachel E. Carter is a producer of short films and co-founder of Fazeley Studios based film production company Fullrange. Fullrange makes independent films and commercial or arts projects for brands such as the Arts Council, the Prince’s Trust, Smith & Nephew, American Express & Land Rover.

Rachel recently visited BAFTA where her production skills won her second place in the Performance Short Film Awards for her dark fairytale Momster. Rachel also showcased Momster and another of her productions, Caterpillar at Clermont Ferrand Film Festival.

THIS EVENT IS PART OF FAZELEY DIGITAL 09 FESTIVAL. FOR A FULL PROGRAMME VISIT WWW.FAZELEYDIGITAL.COM. FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL KM@FAZELEYSTUDIOS.COM