Spotlight On... Film Feels

This month, we spoke to Annabel Grundy, Major Programmes Manager for Film Hub Midlands, to hear all about their exciting new programme Film Feels: Obsession.

Film Feels is a UK-wide annual film season, working with independent cinemas, festivals and venues to offer audiences access to unique film screenings and events and is supported by the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) and National Lottery.

Park Circus: How is Film Feels part of the work BFI Film Audience Network does to support cinema screenings across the UK?

Annabel: Film Feels is one of two ‘Major Programmes’ that Film Hub Midlands delivers, working with all members of BFI FAN across the UK, and that we developed and launched this year. Major Programmes is all about widening curatorial choice and deepening engagement for audiences – we care a lot about what is ending up on screen and who it is reaching - which is just one part of what FAN does. I have brilliant colleagues working in the Film Hubs who do the heavy lifting to develop and sustain cinema infrastructure, make sure people are getting the training and support they need, and develop local audiences and partnerships so that there is a network to which we can deliver these UK wide projects.

PC: Why is it important to support independent cinemas and venues in bringing films, old and new, to regional audiences?

A: It’s so important to value our cultural venues and programmers outside of London, and to remember that people everywhere should have access to art and to the opportunity to come together collectively. Cinema is such a great way to do this: while we can have a national discourse about contemporary films, led by the release schedule, or what’s online, somebody’s local independent venue can also become a trusted place to discover and connect with lesser known or forgotten works. We want to go to the cinema to be taken out of ourselves, and connected to something bigger, just like we do when we go to the theatre, or a gig, or a party. It’s a profoundly human activity.

PC: What is unique about the way you curate your season?

A: Film Feels is a new way of putting together a national season for FAN – both because we are working under a new model of delivery for the BFI Film Audience Network with Major Programmes, but also because we wanted to really show off the depth of expertise and creativity in independent venues across the UK.

Instead of putting together a single programme and touring it around venues, we flipped the idea and offered a key theme plus 3 core film titles that people could book, and then flexibility to give us their own take on Obsession. The great thing that has come out of this has also been that we’ve been able to work with a much wider range of curatorial voices, and support programming that serves different communities – for example we’re working with Fragments Festival and Fringe Festival in London to present queer takes on Obsession, with Aya Distribution to present a series on Obsession in African cinema, and with Birds Eye View to look at women’s place as an often brutalised object of desire.

PC: Why did you choose Obsession as the theme for this season of Film Feels?

A: Well for starters you have to be a bit obsessive to work in film, so we wanted a core theme that was a really clear call out to film lovers, cinephiles and people who are passionate about the medium.

We also wanted a theme that gave venues the flexibility to work with their curatorial interests and key audiences, so we chose a theme that is really universal.

Most of all, I felt that obsession is an interesting theme to look at today – we’ve got access to what feels like every piece of art, literature, and even each other online and what could have been perceived as obsessive years ago is becoming more normalised. Having a specialism or niche interest is now a way that people define themselves – through fandom, reclaiming of ‘geek narrative’ or just showing off about knowing the correct aspect ratio for a film to qualify as widescreen….(2.35:1, if you’re wondering).

I wanted to open up the season and give space to look at how obsession isn’t automatically a bad thing – yes we have our share of gun crazed killers and Giallo horror in the season – but you can also view obsession as being a way to identify yourself – whether that’s putting yourself on the fringe of things, reclaiming your interests outside of the mainstream, or even finding your tribe of equally obsessed weirdos.

PC: How does Obsession in its many forms show up in both classic and current film?

A: For film lovers, film does become a lifelong obsession that only deepens the older you get, so we wanted to pay homage to classic noirs like Vertigo, while also introducing people to more modern takes on the genre – Knife+Heart is a contemporary title we’re getting behind for the season, which is both a nostalgic trip into 1970s Giallo and a relatively fresh voice in cinema.

We also were very keen to look at how women feature in Obsessive narratives. This was why we chose Gun Crazy and All About Eve as our key rep titles (films which we are supporting FAN venues to book) as we wanted to make sure we represented more than female victimhood on screen. As the films get more contemporary we’re really pleased to see works by women directors such as Jawline and Romantic Comedy looking at different sides of female fandom.

PC: What’s your favourite film from this year’s Film Feels season?

A: For me it’s Jawline – a documentary by US director Liza Mandelup that looks at the rise of social media stardom and the often uneasy power dynamics between star (or object of desire) and the fans that give them their power. It also looks directly at the enormous visceral tide of feeling that teenage girls have, how much this drives them, and the people that make money from them. I was lucky enough to interview the director at its premiere at Sheffield Docfest as part of Film Feels Obsession and got in trouble for running over because there was so much to talk about!

On the classic side, I’m biased, but you can’t beat Bette Davis giving an arch side-eye over her martini glass to Marilyn Monroe in All About Eve, powerful and vulnerable at the same time.

Be sure to check out this season of Film Feels: Obsession and the work that Annabel and the rest of the team at Film Hub Midlands are doing to connect audiences to films worth obsessing over!