Film Council announce plan to widen UK cinema choice

The Film Council has announced plans to introduce a package of measures as part of a Specialised Exhibition and Distribution Strategy, which aims to expand the range of films on offer to audiences across the UK.
The Film Council is to channel more than £17 million of Lottery support into a Cinema Fund (in association with the Arts Council of England), with £14 million available to cinema operators in England.
The purpose of this fund is to increase access to and broaden audiences for specialised films through capital investment in a network of existing screens, refurbishment and, where necessary, new screens. A Digital Fund will provide £1 million towards the cost of providing digital projection equipment for non-theatrical exhibition to enable screenings in rural areas and other areas where provision of specialised cinema is under-resourced and to provide a resource to test new approaches to audience delivery. A Cinema Education Fund, worth £1 million a year, will operate across the UK to make resources available to excite, enthuse and involve cinema-goers as they discover and enjoy more about the culture and history of film.
The Film Council's Specialised Exhibition and Distribution strategy aims to develop film culture by tackling structural weaknesses in the UK film industry. UK cinema audiences currently have broad access to a limited range of films and relatively few opportunities to learn about film outside academic institutions - despite the growth in cinema screens over the past 17 years.
Film Council, www.filmcouncil.org.uk
(GB)