Serving a diverse community - Metro Cinema, Derby 

	Amara-chi youth group at a screening of a short film made together by Metro Cinema and Amara-chi's After Schools Group.

Metro Cinema is a not for profit independent art house cinema in Derby.

The opportunity
Derby has a population of around 233,000 with 15% from minority ethnic backgrounds. There is also a large deaf population as the Royal School for the Deaf is based in the city. Metro Cinema recognised it could increase its audiences by catering for these and other groups.

The initiatives
The cinema has developed a regular programme of screenings and initiatives to make film available to groups which had traditionally been excluded from the cinema.

How it works
Metro Cinema began by seeking advice from other cinemas in the surrounding areas and also approached Derby Local Education Authority and Social Services.

The initiatives the cinema has put into place include:

• Screenings for deaf people - signed screenings of popular films, promoted generally and through the Royal School for the Deaf and through the local deaf community.
• Screenings for children within the autistic spectrum - specially chosen screenings with dimmed lights and without adverts or trailers, promoted generally and through leaflets sent to schools, parents and societies for children within the autistic spectrum.
• Screenings for adults with complex needs - specially chosen screenings with dimmed lights and without adverts or trailers, promoted generally and through leaflets and emails sent to day centres and colleges.
• Silver screen for older South Asian women - screenings of Bollywood films, organised in association with Derby Voluntary Services.
• Cinebabies - screenings for parents, grandparents or carers with babies under 12 months as part of a club. The local council granted the cinema permission to show up to Certificate 18 films at these screenings. Promoted generally and to 'parent and baby' groups.
• Youth film projects - projects run in association with youth groups in the local minority ethnic communities. These include workshops, seminars, debates and screenings of locally made films alongside popular feature films.

Results

As a result of its successful initiatives, Metro Cinema is expanding and will be moving to larger premises in 2008. The Cinema will also be joining forces with a local arts organisation, Q Arts.

The screenings for deaf people and children within the autistic spectrum, originally self-financed, have since attracted funding from:

• Derbyshire Building Society, which covered the cost of signers for a year.
• Children in Need, which funded part time staff to work specifically on the project.
• Rolls Royce
• Derbyshire City Council
• Derby Playhouse and East Midlands Arts
• EM Media

The cinema has attracted a high level of media coverage, generating valuable publicity, including around 10 pieces of TV coverage.

In 2004, Metro Cinema was awarded Digital Screen Network status by the UK Film Council.

Further information

Phone: 01332 340 170
Email: Metro.cinema@virgin.net
Website: http://www.metrocinema.org.uk/