National Lottery Awards 2007
From The Star And Shadow Cinema Wiki
Your details Email:info@starandshadow.org.uk
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Project details
How did you hear about the Awards?
Choose ... Direct Mail Email Insert in Magazine Publication: e.g. External Funding Bulletin; Third Sector; etc Website Word of mouth Approached directly by Awards representatives Other
In which region is your project based?
East North West Northern Ireland East Midlands South Wales Yorks and Humber West Midlands Scotland London South East West & South West North East
1. In which category would you place your project?
Please select the category that best represents your activities. Please note this is for guidance only, the judges may change the category your project competes in if there is an overlap in your activities. Choose ... Sports project Heritage project Arts project Environment project Voluntary/charity project Health project Education project
2. Contact details
Project name Contact name Position within the project Project address Project website (if applicable) Contact telephone number Mobile telephone number
3. Select the National Lottery Distributor(s) from which you received the funding
Arts Council England Awards for All Arts Council for Northern Ireland Arts Council for Wales Big Lottery Fund Heritage Lottery Fund Millennium Commission NESTA Scottish Screen Scottish Arts Council Sport England Sports Council for Northern Ireland Sports Council for Wales sportscotland UK Film Council UK Sport
In which funding bracket do you fit?
Choose ... Under £10,000 £10,000 to £499,999 £500,000 to £999,999 £1 Million and above
In which year(s) were you awarded the money? 2006-7
How much money have you received in total? £23,500
What exactly was the money spent on? What did it help to fund?
ACE NE: £18.5k - this project funding paid for an international building festival involving over 150 volunteers from the UK and European Union coming together to network, socialise and build a volunteer run community cinema and creative space.
NFM: £5k - this project funding paid for a process of audience and organisational development encouraging new people to participate in programming films, with a focus on refugees and asylum seekers in the Cinema of the World Club, and South Asian communities in the South Asian Film Club. info@starandshadow.org.uk
4. Tell us about the project
Please provide a brief history of the project, why it was set up and the story behind it.
Star and Shadow Cinema grew out of its former organisation The Side Cinema, a collective of volunteers interested in programming a wide range of film and social events covering documentaries, lesbian and gay culture, artists films and cinema history. We finally outgrew our venue and found a new site to develop the organisation. The number of people involved grew rapidly from about 5 or 6 to well over 150 people, and after 8 months of building work, we opened the new Star and Shadow Cinema. Since January this year we have had over 2000 members join. The cinema is set up to encourage participation in the culture of our region - volunteers help both open and maintain the building, administrate the organisation, and organise the programme.
Approximately how many people have benefited from your project?
2500
What problems or issues has this project addressed?
This project has sought to address the imbalance between those who 'supply' culture, and those who 'consume' it. Our initiative seeks to change that relationship to one where the audience is in control of what is on offer - it is a celebration of individual's and communities' ideas, passions and quirky obsessions, and it is supported by a collective effort to keep the cost of culture as low as possible.
The issue of a lack of representation for certain groups and communities in society is one we take very seriously - through creating as accessible and convivial atmosphere, programming films and cultural celebrations with asylum seeker and refugee networks, providing a platform for LGBT culture and indpendent, unsigned musicians and performers.
What are the long term benefits to the people involved with this project?
The long term benefits are developing strong skills and friendships through the volunteer structure of the organisation, which values each participant as equal. It builds confidence in a range of skills from bar work and ushering to project management, accounting, fund raising and curating. Participants and audiences benefit from the social experience of cinema, through the act of watching films together, but also the experience of organising the screenings and working together. Many volunteers develop skills in the film, media, arts and voluntary sectors that increase their employability elsewhere.
6. How is the project run? Have you worked with any partners, the community or other organisations on this project? If so, please tell us about them.
The organisation is run entirely by volunteers. We have a strong connection with the CVS in Newcastle, and have regular volunteers through them, including a Kurdish carpenter who helps once a week improving the internal spaces in the building. We work in partnership with many other groups to deliver projects - for example we recently organised an event with North East Refugee Service showcasing 4 films made by young refugees and asylum seekers and a theatre piece devised by their youth group. We have worked with the Sage Music Centre, Gateshead, programming film elements of their festivals. We work alongside the Universities of Newcastle and Northumbris co-organising projects.
Have you worked with any socially disadvantaged or hard to reach groups? If so, how did you go about reaching them?
We work hard to reach communities that get less represented in mainstream culture. We do this through formal and informal methods - for example through the CVS and various BME agencies like North East Refugee Service, Pakistani Cultural Association; and then more informal routes of community consultation with local businesses and groups such as Gurukul Hindustani Classical Music Association, Dosa Corner and others.
What efforts have been made to ensure your project can be sustained in the future and/or become partially self-funding?
The implementation of a bar has transformed our business model from one that relied on funding almost 100% to one that relies on funding for only about 40% of our turnover. The development of our building has also made it much mroe attractive for private hires and other commercial use, often with small businesses.
7. Why is your project a winner? In no more than 250 words please tell us why your project deserves to win a National Lottery Award. This is your chance to highlight what makes your project special and to mention the positive results you have achieved.
In only a single year, Star and Shadow Cinema has gone from just an idea to a fully operational, licensed and accessible building with over 2000 members. Starting from a group of 5 or 6 volunteers, our group of volunteers has well exceeded 150, and we get 3 or 4 emails a week from people offering their time, enthusiastic to get involved. From an organisation that struggled to be financially self-sufficient , we have grown to a VAT registered Community Interest Company taking 60% of our income through our own sales. Most importantly we have the most diverse, inclusive and experimental cultural programme in the North East.
The Star and Shadow Cinema is a uniquely exciting and novel social enterprise in that it is sustained by people's motivation and love. The Star and Shadow has grown out of a desire within our local community to develop shared resources and a shared culture. Our organisation reveals and cultivates the common threads that bind our communities and brings people together for stimulating experiences. It provides facilities, support and opportunities for developing personal and professional knowledge, skills and networks.
Grass roots community organisation, doing something nobody else is doing, developing new audiences, developing filmmakers and artists practise, integrating needs within the community - which could be social and political networks and/or films that other people can't or won't show.
