Preparations for this year’s summer pop-up ‘Atlas Cinema’ with Brixton Community Cinema and project creatives Bamidele Awoyemi, Farouk Agoro and Livia Wang are now underway.
As local residents prepare for another season of exceptional film, the team are working day and night to construct the space and curate programme to rival the previous year’s project.
Cinema is arguably one of the historic five pillars of community in Brixton, with the market, music and general good vibes already among others.
Building an outdoor cinema in the middle of Brixton is no mean feat.
Moving from last year’s location on Atlantic Road and additionally on Windrush Square, this year’s summer pop-up will be in the arches near LJ works due to budget restrictions.
Lack of funding is a challenge regularly echoed by creatives across the independent film sector, however the team were optimistic that it will give them the opportunity to be more innovative.
On the logistics of the project designer Bamidele Awoyemi said: “We always try to do work that is also tied in with programming, that was really enhanced by that collaboration with Abiba (Brixton Community Cinema), she already had an existing community.
“How we use the space is as important as the design and the development.”
Alongside Farouk Agoro and Livia Wang, the South London trio have produced several creative community projects in the local area since 2020, involving local people and volunteers at every stage.
From African aunties to young musicians.
Agoro emphasised the collective’s continual efforts to break down barriers between architecture and the public, adding that they rather not spend ages waiting for permissions, but instead find creative ways to source materials and occupy spaces.
The screenings will commence on the 2 May, and last for three months, beginning with Wetin Dey: an evening of eclectic short films from Nigeria in collaboration with two Nigeria-based film collectives.
Founder Abiba Coulibaly, 27, started Brixton Community Cinema in response to a lack of opportunity in film programming and as a way of encouraging conversation from film.
She aims to create an accessible and realistic means of encouraging people to engage with local and international film, with the indoor-outdoor space a stark contrast to the conventional curtain-clad dark cinema we’re so used to.
“You’re watching a film but you can also see the outside world around you, not just munching on your popcorn and going home.”
In conversation the team also recalled a moment during one of last year’s screenings when light flooded into the space, and audience members covered gaps in the fabric with their own jackets.
Compared to last year’s selection by established programmers, this year Abiba aims to be a platform for young and emerging film-lovers who may have little to no experience.
Last year’s cinema saw guest curation from the likes of Akinola Davies Jr, to Queer East Festival and endless others.
With Brixton’s famous Ritzy cinema offering ticket prices of around £15, and new spaces proving too expensive for Brixton locals, affordable tickets are important for the team, with long-term and low-income residents taking priority.
The Atlas Cinema programme will be announced today on the BAFALW and Brixton Community Cinema Instagram.
Against a backdrop of a changing Lambeth, the team are keen to show how such big creative projects can and should be realised regardless of budget and bureaucracy.
In the future the team would like to return to Atlantic Road and collaborate more with market sellers and local businesses.
Featured image credit: Kingsley Bishop
