Wicked Cinema at Rhyl Little Theatre 2017 (Rhiannon Wyn Hughes)

“We brought a group of young people together as part of the BFI Young Programmers project (Young FAN). This was made possible following a visit to the local college when we were invited to talk about our festival. Again, all the progress we have made is largely down to enthusiastic tutors who encouraged their students to work with us – and support from Film Hub Wales.

We live in an area that includes some of the most deprived wards in Wales. Within those wards are incredibly talented young people; we want to offer them a chance to enjoy and run a cinema. We want to make them believe they can have a job in the media industry.”

“There have been many highlights, but the most emotional one was working with the special school. They had a very enthusiastic teacher who worked with the group of young people with special needs to plan their screening. They set up a cinema enterprise group ReACTions and went through the process of choosing a film, looking at certifications etc. They then marketed the screening with posters they designed and sold tickets and popcorn on the day. We split the box office so they could buy some film equipment.

We also set up an additional screen in the rehearsal room so that the children with the most profound needs who needed to stay in their wheelchairs were able to watch the same film at the same time as the children in the main cinema. Collectively we had 18 children in wheelchairs with their 22 carers, the rest of the school in the main theatre, a MP and an AM!

Another highlight was watching the Lion King, which had a big audience of families with young children. We were told that for many it was the first time the whole family had been able to afford coming to the cinema together. It made you think.”

“We have all learned new skills about running a cinema. We are still experimenting with our programming while understanding the first step for us to get a community suffering real poverty back into the cinema, particularly as families.

We need to reach out to the community and our marketing has included working with the local hospital radio, dressing as pirates and giving out leaflets in the town, leafleting in schools, the Salvation Army and benefits advice shop. We also try to connect with young people through social media.”

“Looking ahead, we want to roll out the model used by Tir Morfa to other schools and community groups, so they can take total ownership of their own screenings. We will try this with young people as well as, and look at taking the mobile cinema to other venues.

At our latest screening, we provided activities for the children, which gave parents a chance to chat. This was very successful and we will look to develop activities before each screening in the future. We also look at providing screenings for children with autism, and for people with dementia.

Programming-wise, we will be hosting Britain on Film: Coast and Sea in September, with local history exhibitions. At the Wicked 17 Festival, we will have a Wicked Fringe, which will be a season of British films the weekend before the festival starts. Then at Christmas, as many schools in this area can no longer afford to take children to the pantomime, we will offer them a week of Christmas film screenings where they can choose the film.”

Preparing for Wicked 17 International Youth Film Festival

“We are busy, busy, busy!

We are in the process of setting up an office at the theatre which will be run by young people, supported by festival volunteers. This means we have a talented young team helping the oldies with downloading films, programming, designing invitations, leaflets, liasing with international partners etc.

This year we are expecting short films from other 20 countries, with our chosen country this year being India. We are also having an industry day titled ‘Tomorrow’s Legends’ as part of the festival, which will inform people about the industry and the training opportunities.”