Submarine will be the first film in the UK to be screened by hydro power
Rural communities have long been a bit of a wasteland when it comes to cinemas. Growing up in North Lincolnshire, I vividly remember trips to the nearest cinema - around a 40-minute drive away - being carefully orchestrated events that, thanks to the buses stopping before the film finished, would involve cajoling parents into taxi mode so you could see whatever mainstream blockbuster was being shown that week. Arthouse or foreign language cinema was out of the question unless you fancied a round-trip drive of around two hours - a state of affairs that means I get to enjoy the treat of watching filmmaking gems for the first time a lot more often than my counterparts who grew up in urban areas. It also means I'm acutely aware of how often those who live in rural Britain still often miss out on seeing non-mainstream cinema on the big screen.
Gradually, however, the tide is changing and increasing numbers of mobile cinemas are being funded across the country. The Screen Machine (www.screenmachine.co.uk) aims to bring films to rural Scotland and there are several other schemes operating around the country, including three Rural Cinema Pilot Schemes funded by the UK Film Council in Wiltshire, Shropshire and North Yorkshire.
The North Yorkshire Digital Cinema pilot is going from strength to strength as it enters its second year and is about to launch its Screenwaves initiative, to show films across the county - including the first UK film screening run entirely by hydro power. The pop-up screening at the 18th century Howsham Mill - currently under renovation for use as a community centre - on May 14 will be of the aptly titled Brit flick Submarine, along with a short film about jellyfish called Pulmo Marina.
Screenwaves director Zoe Naylor explained how the project came about: "The UK Film Council were aware that there were lots of people in rural communities who weren't served by a cinema," she said.
"But, obviously, one has to assume that they were still interested in seeing film. So they put up a lot of money to give to three pilot schemes and North Yorkshire is one of them, with others in Wiltshire and Shropshire. The schemes started last year and for the North Yorkshire one this is the second wave of it. UKFC provided money mainly for the projection equipment and then the scheme I'm doing is operated through Lottery money. We have high-quality projection kit that's portable - I stick it in the back of my car when I go to screenings and it can be set up wherever. So most of the screenings are actually happening in Village Halls or community centres - already established buildings in those communities.
"But, for example, the screening at Howsham Mill, it will eventually be a community centre but at the moment it's a Georgian Mill with no roof and they're in the process of restoring it. So that screening will effectively be outside but it's lovely to be able to do screenings in these kind of unusual places. And that screening is just about as rural as you can get.
"It will be interesting because it is literally in the middle of a field so at one point we were thinking we could get the equipment down their by using a pontoon they have and floating it down the river from the car park.
"The screening at Howsham Mill has got to be really tiny because it will take place inside the ruins of the mill. We'll put deckchairs down but once you have there's only room for around 25 people."
Zoe is thrilled to be screening Richard Ayoade's debut, Submarine, as part of Screenwaves season, which kicks off on Apri 21, taking the film to several communities.
"I grew up in a rural area and that's why I'm also so pleased that it's Submarine as well, because there are 15-plus teenagers who live in those villages."
And the idea of bringing slightly unusal films to these rural areas also appeals to Zoe, with her family programming also eschewing 'mainstream' movies in favour of showing the more unusual French animation Eleanor's Secret.
"Eleanor's Secret is a family screening so we've got some film education surrounding that, so we'll get the kids making books and that sort of thing, so it will be the screening plus activities," said Zoe, who has been programming films for a decade. "It will be a fun event. I was quite keen not to seen something that people had already travelled through to the multiplex in York to see. I thought it's a great film and a lot of people won't have seen it."
She is also taking the opportunity to programme films that are specifically tailored for the local community - and the community socialising aspect is also vitally important.
"When we do The King's Speech we're also screening a short from the Yorkshire Film Archives, a promotional video by the Borough of Scarborough back in 1960," she said. "It's fantastic, it's 23 minutes long and covers all these different areas in Scarborough, so the plan is we're going to screen that and then there will be a break because so many of the villages said it's a social event as well as a film screening and we'd like to serve cakes and coffee.
"And then there will be a screening of The King's Speech, so it is very much about the community and bringing people together and getting people using the village halls and meeting neighbours who they've maybe not met before. That's the most rewarding element - when I talk to the villagers, they're so positive about having the screenings, it's something they want. The UK Film Council were right, there is a real appetite for having something like this in villages in rural communities."
And the access-for-all attitude of the screenings means cinema is reaching people who have never had the opportunity to attend before.
Zoe explained: "It's the first season of Screenwaves but in North Yorkshire the entire project is called North Yorkshire Digital Cinema - that's what was given the money by the UKFC. They had started a project prior to Screenwaves based around Richmond. They had a screening of Slumdog Millionaire in this tiny village up in the Dales. And there was a guy who had suffered from Tourette's Syndrome his whole life and he had actually never been to the cinema because he was worried about being in that environment with his Tourette's. But he knew everyone who was at that screening, so it was the first time he'd ever sat in a room with a collection of people and watched a film. So there's some really great stories of the initiative enabling people to access a film they hadn't been able to in the past."
Despite the demise of the UKFC, thanks to the positive support from the community Zoe is hopeful of being able to expand the scheme in the future.
"Lottery funding will still continue in some guise," she said. "We are hoping, come the autumn, that we may be able to get some more money to continue it and extend it. The villages that we are going to are cherry-picked because of their location and because of the size of their community and because of their willingness to support the scheme. But I'm sure there are very many other villages within North Yorkshire that would like something similar. So I think it could expand quite a bit. We're also hoping to go in and do some school screenings too.
"I'm really positive about it, mainly because the communities we're going into are positive as well."
Screenwaves venues will include the Robinson Institute in Glaisdale, Snainton Village Hall, Hinderwell Village Hall, Burniston and Cloughton Village Hall, Scalby Church Rooms, Cayton Jubilee Hall and Ayton Village Hall, with Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre acting as a district hub for the project. The Screenwaves team would love to hear from communities in North Yorkshire who are keen for them to host films in their local village hall, community centre or school (if you're interested contact Reel Solutions here).
Tickets can be bought in advance online here.
For more information about Wiltshire's Rural Cinema Pilot screnings visit White Horse Pictures www.whitehorsepictures.co.uk The pilot scheme in Shropshire, entitled Shropshire Screen, has not yet launched its dedicated website, but details should appear here.
