features 19
The Rock | Thursday 7 February 2013
ROB BAKER ASHTON
Reel problems
Independent cinema is now more popular than ever, but Bournemouth seems to have been left behind. Tom Beasley explores the forgotten town of the indie film scene
Catherine Bray: Lack of indie cinema is “disgraceful” British independent cinema is currently experiencing an extraordinary wave of success. Films including Ben Wheatley’s caravanning serial killer comedy, Sightseers, and Peter Strickland’s homage to sound design, Berberian Sound Studio, were considered to be the best of last year, with both winning at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards. These are films, however, that the residents of Bournemouth couldn’t easily see, instead being fed a diet made up exclusively of star-heavy blockbusters and other multiplex fodder. Surprisingly for such a large town, Bournemouth lacks a dedicated independent cinema. Only the films that reach the town’s local Odeon branches are widely available to the public, leaving Bournemouth’s cineaste population lacking the fruits of the independent world. Catherine Bray, contributor to the BBC’s Film 2013 and editor of Film4. com, speaking close to Channel 4’s London headquarters, said: “Growing up in Bournemouth, I wasn’t really aware of the variety of cinema out there because the films that came to Bournemouth did tend to be the mainstream ones. “It is disgraceful that people can be so culturally excluded by the fact that they don’t live in an enormous city like London.”
Bournemouth’s Odeon is a prime example of multiplex culture and does not play obscure, independent films
It could be argued that Bournemouth is merely a microcosm of wider society, with audiences shying away from independent cinema. However, the success of films such as Once Upon A Time In Anatolia and Bart Layton’s innovative documentary The Imposter, rising from obscurity based solely on word of mouth, shows that this is not the case. There is still a taste for independent cinema, and so it is strange that Bournemouth does not embrace independent films as much as other major towns and cities in the country. For Bournemouth residents, Poole’s Lighthouse Arts Centre is the nearest outlet for independent films. Contrary to the arguments of those who suggest that indie cinema is confined to the desires of devout movie fans, Lighthouse sells over 200,000 tickets a year with non-ticketed events increasing this attendance figure to around 300,000, which is more than double the entire population of Poole. It is, however, too far away for Bournemouth residents to consider it as a regular place to visit to catch the latest indie flicks. Paul Ridd, responsible for programming at the Lighthouse, said: “they generally have quite a broad taste at Poole; an interest in foreign and art-house films as well as mainstream films. I think people are perhaps a little bit more reticent about taking a risk because of the recession and they
don’t have so much expendable income, so if they’re going to go to the cinema they have to go and see something they really want to see.” If this is true and people are now reluctant to take a risk on films, then a traditional independent cinema may actually be an ideal solution. In Catherine Bray’s words: “People are realising
are realising “thatPeople independent cinema is a brand that is not only the content in terms of the films but also the experience
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that independent cinema is a brand that is not only the content in terms of the films, but also the experience.” Indie cinemas provide an experience that the everyday multiplex cannot hope to replicate. A trip to an independent cinema isn’t just a film and some popcorn: it’s a night out. The Picturehouse cinema in Hackney has three separate bars and a high quality restaurant, which is a far cry from a bucket of Pepsi and a massive box of ludicrously over-priced popcorn. This suggests that independent cinemas are the type of establishment that could
cater to what is perhaps a more sophisticated and mature audience than the average multiplex. The people who cannot afford regular visits to the cinema would surely be far better served by an independent cinema and so it remains baffling that Bournemouth lacks such a place. In a world where any film is available online within days of its cinematic release via illegal means and within months via legal services like Netflix, it’s easy to suggest that independent cinemas no longer have a role to fulfill. If audiences want to access these films, it is now possible for them to see them whenever is convenient for them to do so. They no longer have to adhere to the schedules of a cinema; especially an independent establishment that may have only one or two screens. This does the majesty of independent films an injustice, however, as Bray explains with a clearly visible enthusiasm. “Some art-house cinema is made to be seen on the big screen. When you’ve got a fantastic cinematographer like Laurie Rose who did [2012 independent film] Sightseers, it’s a shame that work is being lost by being viewed on these small screens.” Whilst it’s common to see Bray’s enthusiasm from someone championing an independent film about which they are passionate, blockbusters rarely engender
TOM BEASLEY
the same level of frantic and enthusiastic support. “You could go to the Bournemouth Odeon and find a blockbuster playing to a relatively empty screen,” she notes with a sombre tone. “So it’s a shame that they perhaps have lost the will to experiment.” This does appear to be a trend; distributors being unwilling to take a risk on a film that could either succeed immensely or crash and burn and then being surprised by their success. It would seem then that the issue is not with audience demand, but with distributors being shy about taking risks. Niels Michael Wee, responsible for Bournemouth’s BUtiful Film Festival, doesn’t think the town is ready for its own independent cinema. “I believe that a culture of appreciation needs to be fostered here before a cinema can get a somewhat stable income.” For whatever reason, it is clear that Bournemouth has been forgotten in the field of independent cinema. Ridd says: “I wasn’t aware there was a big gap in Bournemouth. I didn’t realise that there wasn’t a cinema that was showing art-house films.” This is an issue that leads to two groups missing out. Firstly, the audiences who don’t get to see some of the greatest films and secondly, the distributors who don’t get to receive the contents of their wallets.