Over the course of my time spent in London, the value of its cultural institutions has become increasingly apparent to me — certainly on a community level, but even more so as a personal refuge. I must have slipped into countless screenings at BFI Southbank since I was first ‘tipped off’ by a friend about the elusive £3 tickets for members under 25 years of age.
While the promise of escapism is definitely an aspect of one’s movie-going experience, film also captures our appetite for a sincere artistic engagement with contemporary anxieties, while enabling audiences to appreciate diverse ways of looking at the world. Narrative, plot, character arcs… all coalesce into an experience which moves the viewer, making her a participant in the act of collective imagination.
But even before the threat of contagion in packed movie theatres, the cost of multiplex tickets hardly encouraged frequent trips to the cinema. This was — and increasingly continues to be — compounded by the popularity of streaming platforms like Netflix. Yet, extrapolating the ‘death of cinema’ from these developments seems slightly reductive.
At a time when it is harder to produce and release new films, funding may be redirected towards expanding access to vast film archives like those at the BFI. This act of consciously revisiting old classics can become a productive exercise if curators are able to frame or contextualise certain themes for audiences. Collectively viewing these films can allow us to explore our complex relationship with the past without giving in to the trappings of nostalgia.
Movie-going need not be exclusively tied to plush velvet seats in dark halls. Unusual venues for film screenings (including open-air settings) have been gaining popularity among film groups which deliberately deepen community bonds. These communities have the potential of becoming the site of fundraising campaigns, inextricably tying the appreciation of film to a greater social cause. Such grassroots initiatives often also prove to be better at encouraging inclusivity and diversity in the industry, relative to more established institutions.
There is also something to be said about the gaps in the respective budget of films showcased in theatres. In the past, those with a higher marketing spend have tended to receive greater attention from venues and audiences alike. But when theatres are no longer able to entertain large crowds, perhaps these budgets would be redirected in a manner which somewhat levels the playing field for independent films. Ultimately, all of this creates more viable conditions for resilient cultural products to emerge.
At its most basic level, film is about deconstructing an idea — taking it all apart and then putting it back together, through the spectacle of sound and sight. In order to thrive in the post-Covid era, the purpose of that spectacle might just be exactly what cinema needs to reimagine for itself as an industry, through creative marketing and greater community engagement. All of this has the potential of elevating cinema from an individual recreational endeavour to an exercise in humanity.
