Along with the four ‘one-stop-shop’ film booking services of Filmbankmedia, Cinema For All, MPLC, Moviola and the selection of cultural programming available from Film Hub Scotland (join for free to receive newsletters about these!), you might want to look at other sources of films to respond to audience requests, widen the choice of films you can offer your audiences, or show that film you’ve maybe heard good things about.
Here’s a selection of other film distributors to make your own investigations into licensing a film easier:
ICO (Independent Cinema Office): ICO have a very useful range of resources for exhibitors of all shapes and sizes. As a distributor their special interest is in uncompromising new work, reissues of the key works of world cinema and artists’ films.
BFI (British Film Institute): Distributes new independent features and classic re-releases.
Park Circus: Distribution company based in Glasgow providing information, ideas, licences and screening materials for screenings of classic films.
Into Film puts film at the heart of the educational and personal development of children and young people across the UK. They primarily help schools that want to screen films. Community cinemas can become a venue for Into Film Festival and access their discounted film licences and free online resources.
Short films before a feature can add context and diversity to your programme. Festival brochures and websites like Glasgow Short Film Festival or Discovery Film Festival in Dundee are a helpful resource, and many community cinemas are increasingly sourcing short films through Vimeo and social media, which allows you to approach filmmakers directly to request the appropriate permissions. Cinema For All also offers a selection of award-winning shorts.
Archive material can also be a great addition to your programme, adding a sense of local interest and community. It also offers a great way of introducing film education into your programming. The National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive is Scotland’s collection of over 100 years of recorded film history. A great example of a film featuring archive footage that has been popular in community cinema screenings is From Scotland with Love (distributor: Park Circus).
Can’t find a film? If you’re having trouble finding a film to licence, have a look at this helpful page of advice from Cinema for All. You can also contact Cinema for All for help finding a film’s distributor.