In 1988, two students living and studying in Liverpool recognised the lack of spaces for showing artist film and video in the city. Built on an ethos of collaboration, experimentation and knowledge sharing, they started to organise screenings in venues and hidden locations across Liverpool and so the story of FACT began.
Community Cinema
Over three decades later, we continue to champion the importance of moving image as an artform and ensure there are open and accessible spaces where film can be enjoyed by all.
Together, we can rethink what a cinema can be - immersive, interactive and extraordinary - a magical place where we gather in the dark to learn new perspectives and discover untold stories from the characters on screen, the people behind the camera and our fellow film lovers around us.
Community Cinema is a space and programme at FACT for filmmakers, artists, grassroots organisers and community organisations to screen films and recoup venue hire costs by selling tickets at a price point of your choosing. Presented in The Box, our ground floor cinema space, Community Cinema screenings can welcome up to 50 guests. We want to support your screening by sharing our resources and expertise, this includes:
Event Support
- Up to 3.5 hours in The Box, Mondays - Wednesdays anytime, and Thursdays and Fridays until 6pm
- Setting up the The Box for your screening event
- Testing your film or content before the event (only if received no later than 14 days prior to the event date)
- Providing you with a technician and usher for the event
- Administrative guidance for film licensing, screening fees and certification
Marketing & Promotion
Providing us with the information about your screening 8 weeks in advance enables us to:
- Create a page on our website and manage the sale of your tickets and box office. Two weeks post screening, ticket sales minus customer booking fees will be transferred via BACS directly to you upon receipt of your invoice.
- Include your Community Cinema screening in the film listings on our website which receives more than 1.3 million visits each year
- Include your Community Cinema screening in our newsletter sent to over 20,000 subscribers
- Share your screening on our social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- Include your screening in our events listings that are sent to local and regional press on a monthly basis.
- Include your screening in our FACT Film flyer, available at the front of house desk in FACT.
- If your screening is planned more than 3 months in advance, we will include your Community Cinema screening in our quarterly what’s on printed guide distributed across Liverpool City Region.
Who can become a Community Cinema partner?
- Independent filmmakers
- Artists and artist collectives
- Charities or community interest companies (CICs)
- Members of LARC (Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium) or COoL (Creative Organisations of Liverpool)
- Film clubs or societies
If you are not eligible to become a Community Cinema partner but are interested in hiring our cinema, please contact venuehire@fact.co.uk. Your hire will help to support our Community Cinema and ensure we can keep running costs to a minimum. You can also choose to pay it forward and support Community Cinema further by making a donation during your hire.
How much does it cost to screen a film in the Community Cinema?
FACT is a charity and funded by Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council. Everything we do is not-for-profit and the cost for screening a film simply covers our team’s time to ensure your screening is set up and supported from start to end.
Individual artist and filmmaker: £300
Organisation, charity or society: £400
*Corporate: Price on request
Our costs are fixed to promote fairness and transparency for our community. However, we understand that this cost is not affordable to all and where possible, we raise additional funds through Corporate Cinema hire to offer reduced rates to Community Cinema partners.
*If you would like to discuss Corporate Cinema hire further, please contact venuehire@fact.co.uk.
Community Cinema Partners
Join our Community Cinema, you'll be in good company!
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