FILM SOCIETY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2014 COMMUNITY AWARD SUBMITTED: 13 AUGUST 2014 DFC, 34 Brookfield Road, Dungannon, N.Ireland, BT71 6UH T: (028) 87724272 M: 07736491622 E: dfclub@outlook.com W: www.dungannonfilmclub.co.uk // www.facebook.com/dungannonfilmclub // www.twitter.com/d_filmclub
FILM SOCIETY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2014 COMMUNITY AWARD HOW TO USE THIS APPLICATION FORM: To enter this category, fill in the contact information below, answer the 4 questions (no more than 500 words each) and return to the BFFS office by 8 August. You may submit as many supporting documents as you like. Don t forget to read the guidance notes, as these will help you know what the judges are looking for. Good luck! CONTACT INFORMATION: NAME OF ORGANISATION: DUNGANNON FILM CLUB CONTACT NAME: CHRISTOPHER BEGLEY CONTACT NAME: CHRISTOPHER BEGLEY CONTACT ADDRESS: 34 BROOKFIELD ROAD, DUNGANNON, N.IRELAND POSTCODE: BT71 6UH EMAIL: DFCLUB@OUTLOOK.COM POSTCODE: BT71 6UH EMAIL: DFCLUB@OUTLOOK.COM SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: Include as many supporting documents as seen fit e.g. a copy of your programme, programme notes, event material, photos etc. Please list all the documents included: 1. *All documents are listed in the appendices. 4. 2. 5. 3. 6. Signature by authorised representative of your organisation: Signed CHRISTOPHER BEGLEY Name/ Position CHARIMAN PLEASE RETURN BY 8 AUGUST 2014 TO: FSOY 2014, BFFS, THE WORKSTATION, 15 PATERNOSTER ROW, SHEFFIELD, S1 2BX OR MAIL AWARDS.BFFS@GMAIL.COM
1. What activities do you provide for your local community? As well as screenings, do you provide any events, training or workshops? We provide a mid-weekly screening and monthly interactive event night. We also show a kids matinee once a month. Our busy programme has led us to screen over 50 films in the last 12 months. 1 Consequently, we show a varied programme that appeals to a wide range of people. By screening independent, foreign language and documentary films we hope to develop, expand and enhance the film culture across the Mid-Ulster area and Northern Ireland. Our audience is prepared to trust our judgement and also very keen to make suggestions. Our last guide had 4 films requested by some of our regular patrons. Once a month, we have an event night. This is an opportunity to dress up (both the room 2 and the people 3 ) and give a more interactive movie experience. These nights are our most popular as they get people from different backgrounds together in a relaxed social environment, where they might not otherwise have opportunity to meet. An excellent example of the events we have run is the drive-in screening of Back to the Future this was screened in the local hurling grounds. We borrowed a 40ft lorry 4 (to protect against the Irish weather!) and attached a screen to the side of it. We had 80 cars and were the talk of the town for weeks afterwards. DFC event nights are not just about the film. We have been able to add on many other entertaining activities to turn a simple movie night into a proper celebration. For the Big Lebowski event we added a bowling alley 5 (kindly supplied by NCC), with Spinal Tap we had a professional musician 6 singing songs from the movies, after the episodes of Father Ted we had two comedians 7 who had acted in the series and for our Shaun if the Dead birthday celebrations we had a special-effects make-up artist 8 and a zombie DJ. 9 We worked in partnership with the local Council to show several free movies to help promote Community Good Relations. 10 Not only did we have the opportunity to reach out to the new-national communities in our borough by screening films in their native tongue but we were able to invite several school from across the community along to a free screening of The White Ribbon. It was with great pleasure that we accepted a request to donate all the profits from the screening of Breakfast at Tiffany s to Cancer Research. 11 Being able to provide the vehicle for such an important and successful fundraising event has made us realise the potential we have to work in this area again in the future. Being a relatively new organisation we have not provided our community with any workshops or training opportunities but we have discussed the potential for doing such work in the future. For example, we discussed with local actors the possibility of showing one of their films followed by a Q&A session. We also hope to launch our short film competition in November, and offer workshops to competitors as part of this.
2. How do you address and cater for the unique make-up of your community in your programming? We have consciously remained impartial with regard to our local political environment in that we steer clear of pro-nationalist and pro-unionist films. We aim to cater for as wide an audience as possible, and believe that moving away from past conflict and introducing a wide range of international films will increase the cultural awareness of our local audience and shift attention away from traditional local problems. With this philosophy, we were able to establish a connection with the local Council to create a programme of films aimed at the local immigrant minorities. Dungannon has a large industrial workforce, which in recent years has become very dependent on new nationals, who now account for 20% of Dungannon s population. We identified a lack of social inclusion between nationals and new nationals, and decided to tailor our programme in an attempt to bridge this gap between the local communities. We wanted to highlight the important role that film can play in reaching out to these communities and also highlight the ability of film to create a richer awareness of the global stories of humanity. We targeted the three largest new national groups Russian, Polish and East Timorese. We liaised with local community leaders to create posters in the native language 10 of each specific community group. These events proved very successful both in educating local people about the backgrounds of their new neighbours, and in making new nationals feel included. By reaching out to these groups through film we believe DFC will create a sustainable audience for a more diverse range of cinema. With future funding we hope to expand upon this project and potentially grow it into a festival. Dungannon is not a rural area we have three multiplexes within a 15 mile radius but our programming is shaped by the dearth of specialist and independent films on offer in these cinemas. Therefore, we feel obliged to provide an environment where the leading domestic and international films (which are ignored by these local cinemas) can be seen. DFC believes it is important to try and engage with people who may not be regular cinema attendees and to this end we also show more populist movies. During the period January-March 2014 we had a screening in a local bar/nightclub accompanied by a live musical performance. 6 We also had a presentation of Father Ted 7 (not a film, but this will certainly expose us to a wider audience) in a local theatre and finally in March we had a drivein movie 4 on the grounds of a local sports club. The aim is to take DFC to the people and hopefully attract a wider audience and inform them of our aims and the role film can play in society.
3. What connections have you made with other organisations locally or outside of the community? Tell us how you developed these connections? As a voluntary organisation we are keen to make connections and work with other community groups, and publicise this at every opportunity. We have been approached by several organisations: MACADA 12 we screened a movie in a church hall, Whale Rider. The small village of Moy falls within the Dungannon district, but has few facilities of its own, so our presence was greatly appreciated. We were approached by this group for guidance on how to set up a Film Society, but after discussion we agreed that the best way would be for DFC to run their film nights for them. Bardic Theatre 13 we screened some episodes of the cult TV series Father Ted in another rural location, Donaghmore. We brought in two comedians for this event to entertain the crowd, both of whom appeared in the original TV series. The DFC committee are all patrons of this theatre and it was through our friendship with its members and staff that the opportunity to host this became possible. Belfast Film Festival 14 we were approached by BFF to help organise and promote the BFI Gothic screening of The Innocents and The House on Haunted Hill in Lissan House, a country house in Cookstown, 15 miles from Dungannon. It was our social media work that alerted BFF to DFC and the potential to market their event though us. All three of the above events were examples of where we have reached out the wider community by going on tour to rural locations. Other groups we have worked with include: Eoghan Ruadh Hurling club 4 we screened our drive-in movie on their grounds. Business connections with one of our committee members made this possible. Arts forum 15 we screened two children s films at the Arts and Crafts fair and helped organise the Blues on the Hill festival that was inspired by our intention to have a live band play with our presentation of The Blues Brothers. Council Community Good Relations Scheme 10 we worked closely with the Council on a series of free films for the new-national community. We contacted the Council directly to see if they would support this initiative. Council Victorian Week we screened Scrooge following a request by the Council to support Victorian week. Cancer Research 11 fundraising event we were approached by a patron and gladly accepted. We have been able to form a relationship with Newcastle Community Cinema. They welcomed us with open arms back in April 2013 and we have had a constant line of communication ever since. They are not only a true inspiration in what they do and have achieved, but they are also fantastic people and always keen to help. The relationship we are building with Film Hub NI could prove to be the most important of all. They have not only encouraged what we are trying to achieve but have been able to give us the funding to make it possible. We look forward to working with them and trying to grow the cinematic landscape of Northern Ireland.
4. What impact have your activities had in the community We have made use of a new community space, Ranfurly House Arts Centre 16, and helped introduce it to the wider community. Our feedback forms have told us that 42% of our patrons first visit to the Arts Centre (which is almost two years old now) was to see a DFC screening. We are immensely proud of this but also very proud to be associated with such a fantastic building that has a key role to play in the future development of arts in our community. During the last 12 months DFC has received some fantastic feedback 17 that has encouraged us massively and helped us realise that we are making a valuable contribution to the local community. We are very proud to have curated a varied program of international films aimed at putting the art of film at the heart of the local community. Film can be used as a launch pad into many other art forms and if we have sparked an interest in just one of our patrons to go out and explore something new then the last year has been a success. Film is clearly DFC s focus, but we are all lovers of other art forms and this has been evident with our extra features on event nights. Live music 6, stand up comedy 7, DJ s 9 and much more have helped create a amore varied program of activities for the Dungannon community to experience. The success of our link up with the local Council with the Community Good Relations scheme is certainly a stand out achievement from our activities in the last 12 months. We believe we have made a difference in the overall community cohesion and integration. This is a fantastic result in our first year and we intend to keep the momentum going in the years to come. We were delighted to be approached by MACADA 12 who were inspired by what they saw DFC do and wanted to see if they could somehow replicate it. And to then go on and be asked to screen films for them in their town was a great privilege. This time we are bringing the CastleHill Theatre group to act, sing and dance at the event. We aspire to reach out to other local villages in the same way and continue to grow the DFC family. Overall we believe that we have brought the community together through the medium of film. Without DFC this would not have happened. Before the prevalence of televisions in every home, cinema was one of the great social past times. Maybe one day with the work of DFC and other film societies we can go some way to restoring the enjoyment of socialising with a film on the big screen.
Appendices: 1. 2013/14 Review: Admission Attendance Takings 1 07/8/13 The Hunt 4 21 84 2 21/8/13 Gattaca 4 11 44 3 11/9/13 Bicycle Thieves 4 34 136 4 27/9/13 The Big Lebowski 6 45 270 5 01/10/13 Das Experiemnt 4 12 48 6 16/10/13 Oldboy 4 10 40 7 01/11/13 The rocky Horror picture Show 6 32 192 8 12/11/13 The Fall 4 15 60 9 27/11/13 Amour 4 24 96 10 03/12/13 Scrooge 4 15 60 11 11/12/13 The Goonies 4 10 40 12 20/12/13 Anchorman 6 24 144 13 27/12/13 Shut up and play the hits 6 25 150 14 8/1/14 Balibo FREE 44 N/A 15 15/1/14 Fistful of Dollars 5 10 50 16 22/1/14 The Thin Blue Line 5 6 30 17 24/1/14 This is Spinal Tap 7 35 245 18 25/1/14 Tron 3 3 9 19 29/1/14 Hidden 5 5 25 20 5/2/14 Katyn FREE 25 N?A 21 12/2/14 Akira 5 5 25 22 19/2/14 The Wages of Fear 5 6 30 23 22/2/14 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 15 5 15 24 22/2/14 Father Ted 7 100 700 24 26/2/14 Searching for the Sugar Man 5 12 60 26 28/2/14 Philomena EXTRA SCREENING 5 19 95 27 5/3/14 Admiral FREE 18 N/A 28 12/3/14 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 5 5 25 29 19/3/14 Blue Jasmine 5 37 185 30 22/3/14 My Neighbour Totoro 3 3 9 31 26/3/14 The Double/Submarine 5 11 55 32 29/3/14 Back to the Future 20 80 CARS 1600 33 2/4/14 Nebraska 5 15 75 34 5/4/14 Whale Rider EXTRA SCREENING 3 34 102 35 9/4/14 The Act of Killing 5 5 25 36 12/4/14 Matilda 3 10 30 37 16/4/14 Django Unchained 5 6 30 38 26/4/14 Breakfast at Tiffany s 7 55 385 39 30/4/14 Good Vibrations 5 11 55 40 7/5/14 The Great Beauty 5 15 75 41 14/5/14 Wadja 5 18 90 42 17/5/14 Pirates 3 9 27 43 21/5/14 DFC Quiz 4 47 188 44 31/5/14 American Psycho 7 26 182 45 4/6/14 Army of shadows 5 14 70 46 11/6/14 The Wave 5 8 40 47 12/7/14 Toy Story 3 11 33 48 19/6/14 The White Ribbon FREE 40 N/A 49 28/6/14 Shaun of the Dead 7 28 196 50 2/7/14 The Selfish Giant 5 11 55 51 9/7/14 12 Angry Men 3 15 45 52 12/7/14 Lion King CANCELLED 53 16/7/14 Black Fish 5 10 50 54 26/7/14 Blues Brothers CANCELLED 55 30/7/14 Before Sunrise 5 11 55 56 6/8/14 The Square 5 3 15 57 9/8/14 Finding Nemo 3 11 33 58 13/8/14 No! 5 59 23/8/14 Grease 7 60 27/8/14 Starred Up! 5 Attendance - Weeknight average 14 // Events average 44 // Kids Average - 8
2. Picture of the room dressed for the screening of American Psycho : 3. Picture of an audience member from the Shaun of the Dead event night:
4. Picture of the 40ft Lorry we had to use to secure the screen for the Drive-in movie: 5. Picture of the bowling Alley we used for the Big Lebowski Event night:
6. Picture of local musician Rory Neillis as he performs songs from the movies at DFC s Spinal Tap night: 7. Picture of Joe Rooney aka Father Damo with committee member Sister Roisin Fee:
8. We were delighted to have a local make-up artist at our Shaun of the Dead event night: 9. Our Zombie DJ... getting attacked by more zombies!
10. Community Good Relations Posters:
11. Thank you from a DFC patron who requested DFC s help in raising funds for Cancer Research: 12. MACADA Poster:
13. Picture from outside the Bardic Theatre on the night of DFC s Father Ted event night: 14. A picture of Lissan House where DFC worked along size Belfast Film Festival as part of the BFI Gothic season:
15. DFC s intention to screen The Blues Brothers inspired the organisation of Dungannon s 1 st Blues Festival. DFC played a key role in helping organise this event and subsequently cancelled the screening of the film to shift all focus to Festival: 16. DFC are very fortunate to have access to a wonderful venue at Ranfurly Arts Centre:
17. Over the last 12 months we have received some fantastic feedback and advice: