Birmingham International Film Society
Film Society of the Year 2010
In our last year, Birmingham International Film Society (BIFS) has continued to build on its initial successes and consolidate its methods of marketing and publicity in conjunction with its programming. Our main aim is to make available to Birmingham screenings of films which would otherwise not be seen in the city, with a mind to establishing and maintaining partnerships within its diverse communities and groups. We have increased our audience attendance and received favourable and positive comments and suggestions from them.
From September 2009 to June 2010, BIFS screened 66 films from a total of 32 countries (6 American, 12 European, 4 African, 4 Middle East and 6 Asian). Our total audience attendance was 2133, which is an average of 32.32 people per screening. This is an increase of 4.42 people from 2008-2009's average audience figure of 27.9 (based on a total audience attendance of 2176 for 78 screenings).
Having established a loyal audience, we invite suggestions for film screenings either directly in conversation or indirectly using our post-screening evaluation questionnaire. Films that have been suggested and screened include Burma VJ (2008) and Favela Rising (2005), both of which were well attended.
We have screened a variety of English and foreign language features and documentaries, some of which were shown in a themed evening (eg. two films from the same country), occasionally with a guest speaker relevant to the theme or topic. On our audience questionnaires, the following comments were left in answer to the question 'Any suggestions for films you would like to see screened by BIFS?';
‘Your selections are already excellent’
‘Any very different films that you always seem to show’
In promoting special events, BIFS has actively sought dialogue and partnership with relevant audiences. One example of this was our 'Nollywood Night', which incorporated two screenings of Nigerian films to celebrate Nigerian Independence Day (October 1), along with a guest speaker from the Nigerian community, Mr. Kunle Aderemi. Kunle helped promote the evening, which was well attended by a varied audience (including a large percentage of Nigerians).
A further example of targeting specific audiences was the Birmingham première of Until the Light Takes Us (2008), a hugely anticipated documentary about Norwegian Black Metal. BIFS printed up 5000 attractive flyers for the event which were co-distributed in partnership with Flatpack Festival (with whom we showed the film). They also helped promote the film in their marketing (along with the film makers and other promotional groups on Facebook). The result was a near sell-out event, a rewarding result for a film which was nearly pulled by the film makers (after Flatpack and BIFS had gone to print) due to a disagreement over ticket prices. Thankfully they were placated and only one person made a point of referring to the event flyer's price being less than the new one (they still bought a ticket).
To celebrate our second birthday, we put on a free screening of Mexican teenage drama I’m Gonna Explode (2008), along with free wine and nibbles. We had an audience of eighty who came and enjoyed themselves.
On one audience questionnaire the following comment was left;
“Keep up the good work! Birmingham needs you”
Birmingham International Film Society fully intends to keep up the good work and further pursue the challenges of bringing international cinema to an international city.
