Culture: Art House Cinemas

Baroness Kidron Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, my noble friend has hit upon a problem, which is the precise definition of art picture house. There are independent cinemas as well as the mainstream ones. The problem is that a lot of art-house cinemas show mainstream films as well as the more cultural films. However, I think that we are talking about 300 independent cinemas.

[Baroness Kidron (CB)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a filmmaker and a recent governor of the BFI. A report last week, Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital, documented the way in which arts funding has shifted towards the capital over several decades. The benefit to a Londoner is now three times that of someone living elsewhere in England, and I think that it is in this context that my noble friend asks the Question. Does the Minister agree that if we are to address this cultural imbalance, we must build on the success of existing art venues, such as the excellent art-house cinema in Cambridge that does so much more than show films? Could the DCMS, through its relationship with the BFI, perhaps find a way of distinguishing between commercial screens and the added cultural value that art-house cinema provides?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

First, I think that the British Film Institute is doing a great deal of important work, with many programmes. The one that I will mention to the noble Baroness is the BFI Neighbourhood programme, which is part of a programme to help establish and develop up to 1,000 community venues for films across the UK. That is an important feature of what the British Film Institute is seeking to do. In addition, there are of course many other initiatives that the BFI is particularly concerned about, to ensure that there is the broadest range of opportunities for people to see films.