The Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) represents the interests of film distributors in the UK and Ireland. Its membership ranges from Hollywood studios to independent operators and is responsible for 99% of all films released theatrically in the territory.
Through thousands of film screenings held across the country, this year’s Into Film Festival (8-29 November) returned to help educators inspire young people (aged 5-19) to watch, understand and even make their own films. Featuring a packed roster of pictures, workshops and interactive Q&A sessions with screen industry professionals, it is the largest youth-oriented film festival in the world, supporting young people to embrace cinema and the big screen experience whilst opening up the screen industries as a possible future career path.
Now in its 11th year of operation, the Into Film Festival welcomed a record 356k young people and teachers throughout November to its nationwide programme of free screenings. With ongoing support from Cinema First, distributors, exhibitors and other film sector partners, more than 2,500 shows took place across 485 participating cinemas, featuring a wealth of recent releases, cinema classics, documentaries and short films.
More than 60 titles played as part of this year’s programme, with packed screenings of heartwarming British animation Kensuke’s Kingdom, based on the much loved children’s book by Michael Morpurgo, opening the festival. Special screenings of inventive biopic Piece by Piece and big budget musical Wicked also featured, with a ‘Pupil’s Premiere’ of the highly anticipated animation sequel Moana 2 bringing the festival to a close.
Other festival highlights included a career retrospective of award-winning British director Amma Asante; a special screening and Q&A of Bird with celebrated British writer/director Andrea Arnold; sessions with Kensuke’s Kingdom screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, and the film’s Wales based animators Bumpy Box; as well as a panel of screen industry professionals involved in the production of Wicked.
The FDA and UKCA (via cross-industry body Cinema First) annually support Into Film alongside BFI National Lottery funding. Into Film is the UK’s leading charity for film in education and collaborate with schools and educators to inspire young people through film. They believe the moving image is the most influential art form of the last hundred years and are committed to making it the most influential educational medium of the next hundred.
You can find more information on the festival and Into Film’s resources and other events on their website.