Increasing Access to Global Majority Cinema • Arthouse Cinema Hub

In many ways we are living through a golden era in terms of the choice available to cinemas. Every week far more titles are released than any independent venue could realistically screen. For example, according to statistics published by the British Film Institute, in the UK in 2025, an average of 18 films were released theatrically every week.

However, while programmers have theoretically a huge pool to draw from, this perception of limitless choice can be misleading. Although conversations around representation remain live, the reality is that women and Global Majority filmmakers remain underrepresented both on distribution slates and on cinema screens. Success stories, like Ryan Coogler’s Sinners or Chloé Zhao Hamnet, are still exceptional.

In a risk-averse market, buffered by streamers and the ongoing cost of living crisis, films by filmmakers from historically marginalised groups, especially smaller-scale titles, can struggle to cut through at every stage of the exhibition chain – from distributors, to venues, to audiences.

To address this issue, a new generation of distributors have emerged with the mission of increasing access to films which are not getting picked up by mainstream distributors. Companies such as Watermelon Pictures in the US, We Are Parable
and Aya Films in the UK, and Senegal-based Wawkumba Film, are building more international screening opportunities for global majority filmmakers. Interestingly, many of these younger distributors come from curation contexts, and identified gaps in the distribution chain while organising cinema events for diverse audiences.

London-based collective T A P E, offer an interesting case study into how grassroots community organising can lead to distribution. T A P E was founded in 2016 by Angela Moneke and Isra Al Kassi, who met through a young programmers scheme. The pair bonded over their love of cult classics and comic book movies, and shared their experiences as non-white women working in the film industry.

“We both felt we were being pigeonholed in terms of what kind of films we would like. Angie as a Black woman, me as an Arab woman,” explains Al Kassi. “We also knew there were films being screened at festivals by Black women and women of colour that just were not coming to the UK.” Frustrated by this under-representation, Moneke and Al Kassi decided to start organising screenings, with the intention of “repping could-be cult classics.”

T A P E began with pop-up screenings and soon carved out a reputation for showcasing films about diasporic and mixed heritage experience, including a major season, But Where Are You Really From? At the BFI Southbank. Then in 2022, T A P E picked up their first title as distributors, Miryam Charles’s Cette Maison (2022), and a new chapter began.

T A P E had always planned to start distributing themselves, but it took a lucky encounter – with Charles’s film and with a helpful sales agent – to work out how it might happen. They were already touring films that hadn’t had a UK release, like Isabel Sandoval’s Lingua Franca (2019) and Leyla Bouzid’s A Tale of Love and Desire (2021). Moving into distribution was about taking ownership of these films and their journey. “99% of the films we work on are directed by women, and 99% people of global majority background, so there was something about the ownership of white-led sales agents and distributors of these titles we were trying to challenge,” explains Al Kassi. Distribution also meant a longer term relationship with titles and filmmakers than curation and events allowed. “We were thinking, what is the future? This is impactful work and we were working out how we could make it more financially sustainable. Not to say it’s easy money, it’s a long term investment!”

Since that first acquisition, T A P E have picked up distinctive titles, including Bye Bye Tiberias (Lina Soualem, 2023), Sudan Remember Us (Hind Meddeb, 2024), Animalia (Sofia Alaoui, 2023) and If the Streets Were on Fire (Alice Russell, 2022), which went on to win two British Independent Film Awards after T A P E’s theatrical release. Their upcoming slate includes Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani’s innovative queer Moroccan animation Bouchra (2025) and Suzannah Mirghani’s Sudan-set Cotton Queen (2025).

Moneke and Al Kassi have continued working in other jobs in production, cinemas and festivals alongside T A P E, an experience that has helped them establish how they’d like to do things differently. “We’re acutely aware of the injustices that women, women of colour and global majority artworkers face,” says Al Kassi. “We ask ourselves, how do we want to be treated? When we bring on employees, we’re mindful about how people are compensated, flexible hours, remote work, all those kinds of things.”

T A P E’s events background mean they are mindful of finding new ways to reach their audiences. Their marketing campaigns are often rooted in the communities around cinemas, such as a collaboration with a local bakery in South London to develop a cake, flavoured with Jaffa oranges, to promote the Palestinian film All That’s Left of You (Cherien Dabis, 2025). “We are very aware of people who may not have gone into the local cinemas that we work with, and that more work might be required to introduce local communities to those cinemas,” explains Isra. “I think that's quite key in terms of not necessarily thinking only about the audiences that already exist.”

Another key relationship is that between distributor and cinema. Smaller titles come without the billboard campaigns of studio titles, but localised marketing can make a huge difference, as can favourable slots. Here, Al Kassi is unequivocal about the role venues can play in helping smaller releases flourish. “Independent cinemas don’t always understand the power they have with smaller titles,” she says. “I’ve seen smaller films match studio releases in terms of performance. Animalia for example, which is a sci-fi film we put out in UK cinemas in December 2025, did on average, as well as other studio releases that week. Sometimes people forget the on-average number and just look at cumulatively how well a film has done, but that will also be based on how many slots its given. Of course, we’d do better if we were on three screenings a day!”

Ultimately T A P E are motivated by a conviction that this work is valuable. “We are driven by a fear of films disappearing,” says Al Kassi. “We ask ourselves, what can we do to make sure people see this film? If it’s something that we can do, then we go for it.” Even in a crowded marketplace, these films deserve to be seen; and the first step to being seen, is making space. In doing that cinemas, curators and distributors all have an important role to play.

• Think in terms of people and communities

• Acknowledge the nuances of your audience

• Building audiences is a long game

• Distributors and venues are in this together

“Small distributors can often be sidelined, but relying on a single Tuesday evening slot to decide a film’s future is setting it up for failure. Making sure that smaller films feature on social media and newsletters, that quads go up, and that trailers are played all make a difference. We’re all in this together in terms of wanting a film to do well.”