Windrush Caribbean Film Festival Case Study

“We are developing an audience that celebrates and consumes films from Africa, the Caribbean and filmmakers from this background, to enjoy stories and cultures which some may have little knowledge of even if they themselves come from a similar background. Newport and Cardiff and South Wales generally has strong African/Caribbean communities but they do not have many designated spaces to celebrate their cultural identity and invite their non Caribbean friend to celebrate and learn about their culture.”

• “Excellent audience for opening night and the afterparty”.
• “Good youth engagement”.
• “Good attendance to the workshops”.

“ALL OF THEM. I never show a film I do not believe in. Find examples of the programme yma.”

• “Urban Circle – providing support from local youth interested in the creative industries helping us to attract a young audience.”
• “Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (UK) – Providing a UK wide reach in marketing the event and by providing programming collaborations and support.”
• “Riverfront Art Centre Newport – supporting is with event space, in kind support of staff and marketing the event.”
• “Newport Council – Marketing and audience development and raising awareness.”
• “Black History Wales – providing us with links to elder community.”

• “£11,000 (including funds from Film Hub Wales via BFI FAN) which includes £4,000 in-kind.”

What Worked:

• “Raising awareness of the variety of films and stories available to the Windrush community reaching out an audience that joined us simply because the films were appealing.”
• “Bringing Don Letts (Big Audio Dynamite) (Radio 6 music) to open his Auto-biographical film ‘Rebel Dread’ with a Q and A with Aleighca Scott.”
• “Having Alex D Great do workshops.”
  
  

What didn’t work:

• “I didn’t have enough people on the ground who understood how festivals work, the consistency needed and the fact that it is very hard work, I had people wandering around and not really understanding the importance of what they were doing.”
• “Marketing and promotion was too late,  the young people were not as engaged with the project as they could have been from an earlier date.”
• “Longer lead,  provide more industry talks. More specialists talk on film e.g.  archive film Animation.”

Awareness & attitudes

“Many audience members were impressed with our ability to connect our them with the social and cultural aspects of what it is to be of Caribbean and British heritage, this was represented through documentary, comedy and animation. the  and contemporary filmmaking.  Many children of mixed heritage have no connection with the Caribbean ancestry and were attending the screening in order to learn about the history and culture through film.”

Diversity

“The Caribbean audiences from the local communities in Cardiff and Newport have never been targeted for a film festival. We targeted local audiences from diverse backgrounds as a priority.”

Knowledge & Experience

“We share knowledge and experiences through curating, and interdisciplinary practice, such as photography exhibitions, political song writing and Q&A’s.”