TAPE: ‘Spotlight’ – Neighbourhood Cinema Case Study

Llangoed Village Hall operate a predominantly indie programme, as well as NT Live, with popular titles such as The Nettle Dress and Fire of Love. Bread & Roses was their highest attended event, which was delivered in partnership with Croeso Menai as a special event. They also screened National Emergency Briefing in collaboration with North-West Wales Climate Action and three well-attended screenings of Madfabulous which was filmed and set in Anglesey, with free entry to the themed exhibition at Plas Newydd (the Marquess’ home, now National Trust).

Mencap Môn – As a brand-new programme with no screening history, they ran accessible screenings for family groups and adults with disabilities. Due to need for accessible format, the programme was more mainstream. Their highest performing film was Minions 4 at 58 but close behind it was locally filmed Brian and Charles at 52, showing potential for more diverse titles.

The Luxor screened a varied programme from documentaries such as I am Martin Parr, to key indie titles like Flow and Welsh classics like Hedd Wyn which was set locally in Trawsfynydd and partly filmed at the Llangollen Railway. It was attended by the film’s lead actor, Huw Garmon, who watched the screening alongside the audience. This created a rare and engaging experience, deepening the connection between the film, its history, and the local community. Their highest audience was 78 for It’s a Wonderful Life, as classic films are generally popular at the venue. Following solar upgrades at the venue, they included climate focussed docs and had sell-out screenings for Welsh titles: Madfabulous, Effi o Blaenau and Pride.

Cinema Paradiso started later in the project and had less time to develop a full audience. They explored a film club model with indie titles. Small things Like These was their highest performer at 14. At the Friday Film Club, also based at TAPE, the highest performer was a short film called Carrot Cake at 26 (a debut short film from London-based filmmaker Olive Pascha with in-person post-screening Q&A), closely followed by Pride at 24.

What were you most proud of?

Co-creation of the overall design and delivery, through Media Club at TAPE led to some significant outcomes for participants, many of whom were from underrepresented groups or are socially or economically isolated. Having a rolling project over three years meant that individuals had weekly involvement in a community-facing project which for some, offered their only direct social connections. One example is of a young man who had not been out at night for many years until he helped with front of house at a screening in Llanrwst. He now goes to the cinema in the evening.

Partnership with Mencap Môn – Adults with learning disabilities undertook training soon after the initial engagement with the Mencap team. Opportunities within and beyond the screenings themselves were quickly identified and explored collectively. Through the project, people have learned new skills, supported programming and embraced new social and delivery opportunities, such as with dementia services through a social model of delivery.

TAPE’s Friday Film Club was an idea presented by a passionate young film fan, J, who struggled to even get through TAPE’s door at first. He was very anxious in groups and would rarely speak above a whisper; if he spoke at all. After making notable progress through Media Club over time, he approached the team to set up a cult and indie film club with post-film discussion groups. Working with Conwy Mind to support others in the same way as he was supported at TAPE, J found new confidence and connection with a wider social group.

Llangoed Village Hall became an NT Live venue after just a few months and established a full indie programme with a strong audience average of 40+, even reaching as high as 100! They went on to deliver their first Hub funded pitch pot in spring 2026 – a solstice sea swim event.

The Spotlight Film Festival was towards the end of the project and was helmed by people in Media Club and in an additional learning needs school, who programmed screenings across the four venues. Participants gained skills in curation, whilst also connecting with communities across North Wales.

The rebirth of the Luxor Cinema in Llanfairfechan was an unexpected highlight. Seeing this mothballed cinema reestablished and thriving in the community has been particularly impactful. They have successfully fundraised for and launched a second screen less than two years into the project.

What was most challenging when putting your ideas into action?

Partner outreach was time-consuming and challenging. We endeavoured to connect in communities which didn’t adopt the offer for a community cinema. It was difficult to adapt to the internal process of partners, some of which faced staffing issues, with events and meetings paused or cancelled. This naturally had an impact on timeline and capacity, as we had to re-establish momentum, or re-train people around tech and licensing.

Cyllid – While all partners intend to continue operations, the cost of licenses and funding in general was outlined as a future barrier. Three venues took advantage of Hub legacy funding from April-June and one venue (Llangoed) has since applied for a Hub pitch pot.

General Resources – Competition for hall hire and lack of volunteers are also barriers. For Cinema Paradiso in particular, building an audience from scratch took more time, though they aim to develop to the level of the other community screens.

Geographical and social challenges exist when working in rural areas of North Wales. Transport and accessible travel impacts on access significantly. Similarly, there can be trust issues and reticence to engage with new initiatives led by people from outside of the community, until they can be established which creates a catch-22 situation.

What difference did the funding make to this project?

We have been encouraged at every stage, to work in a way which responds directly to the ideas of TAPE participants which is empowering, encouraging and leads to personal and community outcomes which are of significant value. Funding relationships are not always this responsive. We have seen how people living with isolated circumstances, for whatever reason, have found and maintained connections as a result.

With support, we trained 189 beneficiaries across 24 sessions and each partner is equipped and empowered to deliver post-project and all note that they will maintain delivery into the future. Initial investment enabled them to take the risk and build more sustainable income models. Further to this, participants have attained skills and experience which can be developed within the clubs and in other settings and activities.

How was your project received by audiences?

We aimed to reach 2,020 audiences in total and this target was somewhat unknown, especially in areas where cinema had been absent for so long. We reached 2,977 by the end of year 3, plus 780 in legacy figures from April – June 26. Figures were lower in year 1, due to the time taken to create partnerships and commence screenings but we saw improvement year on year. Feedback has been encouraging with audiences accessing other local sites and even requesting screenings.

• 46% of the audience surveyed felt more connected to their community as a result of attending events and 47% felt strongly connected,
• Approximately 30% of audiences surveyed were new to the venues,
• 34% felt strongly inspired to watch more films like the one they saw and a further 53% inspired to,
• By the end of Year 3, Cinema Paradiso’s audience average was 7 per event, TAPE’s was 16, The Luxor at 23, Llangoed at 40 and Mencap Mon was 42,
• Our survey sample was around 3% of the total audience. 15% were 25 and under, 5% were from global majority backgrounds, 16% identified as LGBTQIA+, 5% listed unemployment or working in routine manual service roles. 34% identified as Deaf and/or disabled (inc long term illness), which is reflective of key partnerships and the co-collaborative model. In all cases, 50% audiences left questions blank or preferred not to disclose, meaning each figure could be higher and survey completion is complex by nature.  

Did the project have other impacts for your community beyond watching films?

As you can see, feedback from partners has been positive and the creative, social, economic and vocational opportunities which this funding has supported cannot be overstated in terms of value and impact. There has been improved connectivity in regions where transport barriers prevent access to cultural and social services. As outlined, the impact on individuals like J has been clear and has resulted in personal development.

There have also been clear skills impacts with stronger organisations who have the skills and earned income to deliver into the future. Media Club participants have worked on logos and banners, podcasting, radio and online media advertising, even leading to some paid employment opportunities for TAPE participants. Participating venues have benefited from programming, marketing and tech support in order to sustain their operations long-term. They have also connected with a range of partners, both locally and via the Hub, that have gone on to support their activities and contribute to wider income.

What can you and other Hub members learn from your experience?

Co-creation – This has not been a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Community engagement and participation requires bespoke approaches, support and timelines. Where possible, we have endeavoured to be responsive and meet those needs alongside support for those taking part. We see partnership working around screenings as a more valuable commodity in order to better connect with and build audiences in our area.

There are learnings from the role played by Media Club. Widening this model allowed us to add value to our delivery within an Additional Learning Needs provision to support festival programming and pop-up screenings in the community. We have seen an increase within this cohort of young people, connecting socially through cinema trips and sharing reviews, etc. We see potential to grow this area of work, post-project, though it is time-consuming and requires funding. It’s also important to reflect regularly on the project during delivery in order to address resulting gaps.

Resources are key. TAPE created accessible, step-by-step guides for setting up screening equipment and booking licences to which FHW added marketing, programming, licensing and general Hub advice. Each new partner was given a checklist to support set up and meetings were held in each location, establishing project aims and community leaders,

Training is essential: A dedicated training event was delivered with Cinema for All for the various groups as well as on site visits from TAPE. Llangoed community cinema also attended the ICO programming course in London, with support of a FHW bursary. Llangoed and Llanfairfechan have been particularly engaged in Hub events, attending Welsh film preview days, online programming forums and Hub Haia.