ABSTRACT
In 2009, the UK Film Council commissioned the first of two studies intended to go beyond conventional film industry research, to explore more fundamentally what film “means” to the population at large. The first of these called for an attempt to define and measure the “cultural impact” of film; 1 and this was followed two years later by an inquiry into the “contribution” that film makes to the culture of the United Kingdom. 2 An important feature of both studies was that they began from a recognition of film’s ubiquity in the 21st century, with viewings now taking place on many platforms, and with these same electronic media also supporting a major new sphere of discourse about film.
