Small, Slow But Steady and Love According to Dalva are two exceptional films available to programmers for their upcoming seasons.
Now in its second year, the New Audiences Initiative is access>CINEMA’s project aimed at providing extra support to one feature per quarter. This is to help network cinemas, venues and film clubs reach potential new audiences. Two exceptional titles have recently been added to the NAI list – the acclaimed Belgian first feature Love According to Dalva and the Japanese boxing drama Small, Slow But Steady. Both films will be available to programmers across the access>CINEMA network during the upcoming autumn season.
For Q3 2023, access>CINEMA is pleased to announce Small, Slow But Steady as the latest NAI title. Shô Miyake’s powerful adaptation of Keiko Ogasawara’s memoir Makenaide! is a tender and meditative examination of both human fragility and human resistance, set during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Filmed on gorgeous 16mm, the film follows Keiko (Yukino Kishii), a Deaf amateur boxer, as she trains for her upcoming fights in Tokyo. A hotel cleaner by day, Keiko trains each evening with her mentor in his boxing club. But when he falls ill, this, along with the impact of the pandemic, threatens the club with closure.
As Keiko’s daily challenges begin to mount, the solace and sense of herself she has established through boxing becomes jeopardised. However, she remains determined to win her next bout…
The previous NAI film, covering Q2 2023, is Love According to Dalva, which has already attracted strong interest from programmers. It remains available to all programmers, with several screenings already planned across the country over the coming months.
The film is the debut feature from director Emmanuelle Nicot, and stars young Zelda Samson as 12-year-old Dalva. It follows Dalva after she’s taken into care following the arrest of her abusive father. As she acts more like an adult than a child, Dalva’s social workers and new roommates find it difficult to connect with her. Gradually with their help, she accepts that her relationship with her father was not normal, allowing her to finally experience the joys of childhood she was previously denied.
Love According to Dalva is a story of hope and recovery told with the utmost care and sensitivity. The film was shown at access>CINEMA’s May SCREENING DAY, where programmers gave it the highest rating of the eight films screened on the day (92% rating).
Programmers screening either or both films will be able to avail of several extra supports, including tailored social media assets for their screenings and a marketing kit with insights on how to promote their screening(s). In addition, sites screening Love According to Dalva will also be able to use an exclusive poster designed for the access>CINEMA network.
More details on the initiative and both films will be sent to programmers, and full listings for both films will be posted on the access>CINEMA website over the coming weeks.
The New Audiences Initiative has been made possible with the help of Screen Ireland’s Building Back Audiences: Cinema Stimulus Fund.
