How to Set Up a Screening Venue?

The chapter focuses on building blocks of your community. Organizing a cultural event with a documentary film means doing it for people who see it, enjoy it, and have a discussion with others. Only in this way do the films manage to connect not only different themes and phenomena but also people from different backgrounds. Being part of the KineDok network means creating and strengthening a community of people who enjoy documentary films because these films reflect their own lives, broaden their knowledge about the world, initiate discussions about complex issues, and create space to share, connect, and laugh together. In this chapter, we will focus on the community-building aspect of screening films as a community is not something that spontaneously arises but has to be built up gradually. Let's get started.

Veronika Hanáková

She is a graduate of Film Studies and New Media at Charles University in Prague. In the past, she has collaborated with film festivals in the Czech Republic, be it the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival or the Mezipatra Queer Film Festival. She is currently working on the cultural program of the Hybernská Campus, which is also the location of KineDok.

With online film streaming and home cinema systems now so easily available, it’s more important than ever to create something the audience can’t experience at home. Cinema enthusiasts are often advised to go a step further and craft an event that the audience won’t easily forget. 

However, the reality might be totally different for a country like Georgia, where it’s been almost 30 years since the last film was screened in more than 50 movie theaters. The young Georgian enthusiasts who aim at bringing new life and concept to the former Soviet cultural institutions in their small towns and villages face numerous technical challenges along their journey.

Mariam Jachvadze

She is a broadcast professional with more than ten years’ working experience in media. She graduated from the University of Westminster’s School of Media, Arts, and Design in London and worked as a video reporter and producer. She joined Chai Khana’s team as a Media Production Manager in 2019. She believes in the power of visual storytelling and has always been most passionate about telling stories that matter. She has experience working with international media such as BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and Vice News. She is also a co-founder and member of KSELI - network of organisations and people advocating revitalisation of abandoned cinema houses and cultural spaces in the regions of Georgia.

Every cultural venue is unique, just like every single film you screen. It has its potential audience. Who are they? Communication is one of the most important means in our daily lives. It is how we connect with each other, get to know each other, pass or exchange information. Paradoxically, with the advent of social networking and the development of media, communication has become much more challenging. In the information noise, it is necessary to be interesting. In order to not only reach out, but also catch the attention of potential visitors, it is important to have the right communication set up - properly targeted marketing and PR. As if it were tailor-made for your cultural space, but also for the film you want to screen.

Mária Hejtmánková

Since 2002 she has been involved in the production and PR of cultural projects. She has collaborated with the publisher K. K. Bagal, director P. Barabáš or with SkRAT theatre (Pro-téza theatre festival). She participated in the production of the documentary series Fetiše socializmu (research and PR). She was the PR manager for the film Anjeli (dir. R. Šveda), the International Animation Festival Fest Anča, the short film Žltá (dir. I. Šebestová), the series Chochmesovci, the documentary series Fetiše Nežnej revolúcie, the international festival of documentary films One World, the production studio Fool Moon (Mimi a Líza, Websterovci, Kamene) and helped with the PR of the film How I Became a Partisan (dir. V. Lacková). Currently she is PR manager of the literary award Anasoft litera and the festival Konvergencie, financial manager of the festival NEXT (Atrakt Art) and cooperates with the civic association ŽUDRO in the international music project Angrusori (PR, production/administration).

‘Georgian cinema is under threat,’ ‘Art is alive and independent’ these are the slogans you read and hear most frequently while discussing cultural landscape and its future in Georgia over the last couple of months. Film industry professionals have been organising protests against the actions of Georgia’s Ministry of Culture since mid-2023. The ongoing changes and reforms in the field might have a significant impact on the emerging field of new Georgian documentary cinema, and the struggle for the independence is still far from over.

Mariam Jachvadze

She is a broadcast professional with more than ten years’ working experience in media. She graduated from the University of Westminster’s School of Media, Arts, and Design in London and worked as a video reporter and producer. She joined Chai Khana’s team as a Media Production Manager in 2019. She believes in the power of visual storytelling and has always been most passionate about telling stories that matter. She has experience working with international media such as BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and Vice News. She is also a co-founder and member of KSELI - network of organisations and people advocating revitalisation of abandoned cinema houses and cultural spaces in the regions of Georgia.

This short introduction to KineDok’s distribution system will help you create your own screening venue with the aid of our experiences and film catalogue. From the first baby steps to regular massive event-based screenings, we provide a 101 guide to building a community cinema.

Szabolcs Szirony

Born in Budapest, he graduated in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Miskolc. He organized a community documentary cinema showcasing young Hungarian directors in clubs around Budapest, later expanding to international films. Co-founder of Budoku Budapest Documentary Festival, he helped it grow into a major event. Currently involved in Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Hungarian KineDok, and teaching documentary film theory at the University of Szeged. Also directing his debut feature-length documentary, he advocates for documentaries' power to offer intimate, reflective insights and expand viewers' understanding of the world.

Zsombor Szabolcs Pál

Zsombor Szabolcs Pál graduated in History. He works for a small publishing company and helps KineDok with making translations.