It is #NationalCinemaDay in the UK today and all the big cinema chains are celebrating it with discounted tickets. And here I am sitting one quiet afternoon, drinking a homemade smoothie and writing this post and being content with the vast universe of cinema - because my cinema never leaves me, it is all around.
I can start the post by saying that I love films but I think everyone in the world knows that by now. It is a medium that never fails to surprise me, frighten me, enlighten me and inspire me. It is through films that I know how the world works or at least, I try to! Cinema is an allusive term which means many things but also this one particular thing - a love for stories.
I have been consciously involved in the study of cinema since the last two years of school so it's been 5 years I think, no way, maths is my strongest. Anyway, I wanted to take today's opportunity to appreciate cinema and its role in my everyday existence.
What is True Cinema?
To be brutally honest, there is nothing called #truecinema. It is all a figment of the imagination and in this context, this is a good thing - cinema should be imaginative and touch your mind. For me, cinema becomes 'true' when it changes me from within. It is an emotion, a sensation and a memory.
One of the biggest changes in my life has been moving to the UK almost two years ago and my perception of films changed considerably. I moved away from box office hits to more about the reasons behind them - why a film works and why one doesn't. And of course, my interests often felt alien in this new world but never alienating - film always welcomed me with open arms and a basket full of knowledge.
National Cinema Day
It is often strange to talk about 'national' things when i entirely identify as transnational or rather away from labels. But in this occasion, I cannot be more grateful to this one place: BFI Southbank. It is the British Film Institute located by the river Thames at the heart of the city, London. I wish this post is sponsored by them but its isn't sadly hahah.
I am at my element sitting on the stairs of BFI just after watching #TokyoGodafthers as a part of their #AnimeSeason. BFI Southbank is a heaven for people who appreciate the artform and like to be around the mutual feeling. It is a place I keep going back to multiple times - it opened to me multiple doors of possibilities and the endless roots of history.
But surprisingly, a lot of people who are in the UK do not often visit BFI and they miss this hidden gem. Thus, 'national' cinema and 'true' cinema converge here on the steps of BFI. The dark unsuspecting lane of the cinema hall hides possibilities and is home to national, international and everything else in between - pure, unadultured, love for stories.
#BFI often claims that they bring the films to life and that couldn't be more true - the stories of love, pain, anguish terror, happiness, joy, craving - everything seeps in the air around Southabank and the breeze from the river keep spreading its magic all around.
Circling back to where I started, true cinema can be hidden just like BFI hides in plain sight behind lush green trees on Southbank but it doesn't lose its charm; even being foreign to this part of the world, BFI managed to reach my heart and leave its 'national' mark.
I still remember sitting on my own on this bench by the river, with delicious chicken and pork buns from the Southbank market and realising that yes, i belong here. Thank you, BFI for everything that you mean to me.
Love
~K.