GreenScreen @ Filmlokaal Hammerstraat. Co-creating a collective cinema in Rotterdam Noord
With the GreenScreen cinema collective, formed during a residency at WORM in October 2023, we are developing a new kind of cinema in a former school building at the Hammerstraat in Rotterdam Noord. We are a diverse group of 10 professionals, who come together around a shared mission to bring people together through film. Collectivity is our guiding principle in making Rotterdam more social in two ways. First, by building an organisation that offers more effective, autonomous and sustainable work in the cultural sector. Our organisation challenges the precarious conditions that often characterise cultural work and explores collective alternatives, such as the sociocratic method. Second, by inviting the people of this vibrant neighbourhood to co-create our programmes, collectivity is translated into a sense of shared ownership beyond the walls of the cinema. Our target audience consists of two main groups. First, we believe film provides an accessible way of coming together, which is why we invite residents of the neighbourhood to propose a program that is important to them. Whether that means a nostalgic trip through eighties Turkish cinema or bringing your friends to sing along with your favourite musical, the programme should offer a reflection of the neighbourhood. Second, we see a gap in Rotterdam’s film infrastructure, where young filmmakers are missing a space to showcase and reflect on their work. A place that is more accessible than high-end cinemas, but simultaneously has the quality to provide a stepping stone into the next part of their career. This place should hence offer room for the next generation of Rotterdam filmmakers to thrive. These innovative characteristics make this cinema a unique place and with the support of CityLab010 we are confident that we can make it happen.