Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
BFI Film Academy Labs are online events aimed at 16-25 year olds, providing industry insight and professional advice and support to develop their own film programming and filmmaking practices. Programmed by the Young Film Programmers’ Network (South East) they are delivered as practical masterclasses, workshops and networking sessions.
This month we were delighted to be joined by Yi Wang and Carmen Thompson to discuss their respective journeys into the film exhibition industry and share some of the practicalities involved in setting up your own company, finding your own team and building partnerships with venues.
Recorded on Thursday 24 June 2021.
Subscribe to ICO YouTube here: bit.ly/ICOSubscribe
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Yi Wang is the director and programmer of Queer East, a festival aiming to showcase LGBTQ+ cinema both from and about East and Southeast Asia and amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK. Outside his role at Queer East, Yi Wang works as a creative producer at The Culture Laboratory, an independent studio for performing arts and cultural events management. In this session Yi will talk about his career and experiences working in the industry to date, and how he created his self-made career in exhibition by setting up Queer East Film Festival and developing partnerships with independent cinemas.
Carmen Thompson is a freelance film curator, researcher and creative producer based in Scotland. She currently works as a producer for international sales & distribution company Aya Films and curator for film exhibitors We Are Parable, and was co-director of the 2020 edition of Africa in Motion (AiM) Film Festival. She is also carrying out PhD research at the University of Edinburgh, with a focus on the work and practice of women documentary filmmakers in Kenya. Carmen is on the board of Document Human Rights Film Festival and is a programming consultant for CAMPLE LINE. carmenthompson.co.uk
Learn more about the Curate-It app discussed in the session here: curate-it.org
If you are a Young Film Programmer in the South East then you can join our Facebook group here: facebook.com/groups/fhseyoungfilmprogrammers
#BFIFilmAcademy #FilmProgramming
BFI Film Academy Labs are online events aimed at 16-25 year olds, providing industry insight and professional advice and support to develop their own film programming and filmmaking practices. Programmed by the Young Film Programmers’ Network (South East) they are delivered as practical masterclasses, workshops and networking sessions.
This month we were delighted to be joined by Yi Wang and Carmen Thompson to discuss their respective journeys into the film exhibition industry and share some of the practicalities involved in setting up your own company, finding your own team and building partnerships with venues.
Recorded on Thursday 24 June 2021.
Subscribe to ICO YouTube here: bit.ly/ICOSubscribe
----------------------------
Yi Wang is the director and programmer of Queer East, a festival aiming to showcase LGBTQ+ cinema both from and about East and Southeast Asia and amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK. Outside his role at Queer East, Yi Wang works as a creative producer at The Culture Laboratory, an independent studio for performing arts and cultural events management. In this session Yi will talk about his career and experiences working in the industry to date, and how he created his self-made career in exhibition by setting up Queer East Film Festival and developing partnerships with independent cinemas.
Carmen Thompson is a freelance film curator, researcher and creative producer based in Scotland. She currently works as a producer for international sales & distribution company Aya Films and curator for film exhibitors We Are Parable, and was co-director of the 2020 edition of Africa in Motion (AiM) Film Festival. She is also carrying out PhD research at the University of Edinburgh, with a focus on the work and practice of women documentary filmmakers in Kenya. Carmen is on the board of Document Human Rights Film Festival and is a programming consultant for CAMPLE LINE. carmenthompson.co.uk
Learn more about the Curate-It app discussed in the session here: curate-it.org
If you are a Young Film Programmer in the South East then you can join our Facebook group here: facebook.com/groups/fhseyoungfilmprogrammers
#BFIFilmAcademy #FilmProgramming
![ICO Screening Days - Trailer [CC]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uco4BvT1Z-Q/mqdefault.jpg "ICO Screening Days - Trailer [CC]
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We strongly believe that the most successful cinemas are those where staff have the opportunity to watch films and feel passionate about them. To this end, the ICO runs national Screening Days events, a staple in the independent cinema calendar giving exhibitors the chance to watch the best upcoming film releases from across the globe and discuss them with industry peers; enabling them to go away and create incredible programmes.
Screening Days comprise intensive preview screenings of features that will be hitting screens in the months ahead. In addition to our main events, we run specialised Screening Days themed around inclusion and diversity; archive film; and cinema for children and young audiences.
Visit our website for more information: https://bit.ly/3UA0dKC
ICO Screening Days is supported by the British Film Institute, awarding funds from the National Lottery.
Sponsored by Filmbankmedia, Eventive and CinemaNext.")
