The meaning of cinema

New art project explores relevance to community.

by Jennie Kermode

The meaning of cinema and the nature of community are the themes of a new art project centered on the Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT). Over the next few weeks, feature film audiences will also get to see short animations and will be invited to discover pieces of poetry and prose from ten specially commissioned writers exploring these ideas. The project opens with Tawona Sithole's Pamwepo (At Together), which begins by looking at the shared experiences of a cinema audience.

With contributions from Janice Galloway and Bernard MacLaverty, the writing is designed to spark conversation. Audiences are encouraged to respond at the GFT or online and will be invited to join group conversations led by author Alison Irvine.

"Our purpose at Glasgow Film is to share a diverse film culture with the broadest range of people possible," said GFT Head of Learning Emily Munro. "At the moment, cinema culture is experiencing rapid change. This is happening at a time when there are widening equalities gaps in society. We find ourselves asking: what is the cinema’s role in addressing inequality?" She hopes that participants will also find the project fun.

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