BFFS Research policy

Relevant BFFS strategic objectives

1 To preserve, sustain and develop film society culture and its values, as an important element of the cultural heritage of the UK
3 To bring the cultural and educational benefits of film to all communities, and to support public education in film culture
5 To procure and disseminate accurate information for members on issues of importance or relevance to the community cinema movement

Aims
  1. To ensure that research into community cinema movement is facilitated
  2. To ensure that research into community cinema movement is recognised by the movement and its results disseminated
  3. To initiate research into community cinema movement to achieve greater understanding of its current structure and dynamics
  4. To initiate/support research about the history of the community cinema movement
  5. To engage with the main film-related archives to ensure that community cinema-related material is organized and accessible.

Research programme - current

  1. Ongoing support of individual programmes of research that touch upon community cinema
  2. Community cinema mapping: a survey to delineate the community cinema terrain not included in the film society movement itself
  3. BFFS membership survey: more far-reaching than any previous survey, and likely to influence not just BFFS's future policy, but also the policies of our partners in the UKFC family

Research programme - projected

  1. Major research project into the learning processes that take place as a consequence of engagement with community cinema - currently seeking academic partners
  2. Historical research into the film society movement leading to te production of a history of the movement - currently seeking funding support
  3. Organization and cataloguing of the film society archive prior to offering it to a centre for film research - currently seeking funding support
  4. Further research into current film society and community cinema operations - tba