Cinema: A Bastion of Community

Whilst on the overground to Dalston Junction I faced the somewhat excruciating inconvenience of a dead phone battery. Stripped of what felt like my only connection to the outside world I was forced – well, encouraged– to sit and observe my surroundings. Around me I found a diverse carriage of commuters; young and old, men and women, blonde and brunette. All distinctly different. The only thing that brought them all together – or kept them apart – was the universal appeal of their individual phone screens. I didn’t think much of it. I was a lot worse with my phone. It wasn’t until I reached my final destination, The ‘Rio’ Cinema in North London, that the inherent sense of community within exposed the more fractured one outside of the auditoriums walls.

I was reminded of just what cinema can do

It was the opening night of the ‘East End Film Festival’ and I was lucky enough to secure myself a ticket to the sold-out event. Sat in the beautiful (grade II listed!) theatre surrounded by film-makers, critics and most importantly, the cinephiles, I was reminded of just what cinema can do. In an age of interconnectivity, it’s astounding how gathering hundreds of strangers into a room to sit in silence and stare at a large screen still manages to preserve such power.

Cinema still holds its role as a bastion of community and a gateway to alternate worlds that no home-entertainment set-up can quite match. For the physical act of sitting in an auditorium removed from the distractions of technology, work and further aggravations, remains an unparalleled communal experience. As the opening night of the ‘East End Film Festival’ came to a close, I found myself at the after-party – chatting away to film fans and industry experts about Sara Driver’s wonderful documentary Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat. A discussion about the film quickly opened up the rabbit hole and I was reminded of the extent to which cinema was built for a community. A binding force that quite literally brings a diverse group together and unifies them around a singular art form.

Cinema by its very nature is a communal art-form

My time at the festival reminded me of the scale of this community – representative of an art form that weaves its way through so many different layers that, together, build up the industry. From the writers, to the producers, the distributors, the critics, the exhibitors and of-course the movie-goers. Cinema by its very nature is a communal art-form, a collaboration and celebration of talent that – despite an age of interconnectivity – will always be destined for a collective audience. On the 29^th April, the Warwick Art Centre will be hosting a one-day only film festival entitled Pushing Boundaries: 1960s British Cinema and its Pioneering Stars.

The day will aim to bring together a communal audience to celebrate and reflect on three of the most defining films of era. 1961’s Victim, 1965’s Darling and 1970’s Performance. One film challenged the law on homosexuality; another ripped up the rule-book on women’s role in society and finally, one aggressively demonstrated the raw potential of cinema as an art-form. This day, curated in collaboration with students at the Warwick Film and Television department, must not be seen as just a celebration of 1960s British Cinema, but also an opportunity to bring together the film community at Warwick. The local residents who lived through the era, the lecturers who studied it and the students who, to this day, feel the benefits from the sweeping changes that took place. Come join us, celebrate with us, and be a part of the cinematic community we’re bringing together.

Pushing Boundaries: 1960s British Cinema and its Pioneering Stars will take place on the 29^th April in the Warwick Arts Centre. The three films; Victim (Dearden, 1961), Darling (Schlesinger, 1965) and Performance (Cammell, Roeg, 1970), can be booked individually or with an all-day pass giving you access to an exclusive Q&A with industry experts.