This year’s event cinema collaboration with Motiv8 was something special. For the third year running, we teamed up with this brilliant youth service charity to deliver a community-curated screening as part of Portsmouth Bookfest, and once again the young people made it their own.

The screening took place during the Easter holidays, landing just in time for National Literacy Week. After a thoughtful discussion at the Motiv8 youth hubs, the group chose The Book Thief—a powerful, emotional story set during World War II that centres on the value of books, stories, and words. Many had seen it before and felt strongly that it was the right film to share.

Together they planned every element of the event—deciding on activities, designing the welcome experience, helping with refreshments, and even running the raffle on the day. One of the highlights was a Blackout Poetry activity, where everyone was invited to find new meaning in existing texts. Several brave souls even stepped up to share their poems aloud. As one young person put it:

“I read out a poem I wrote. I enjoyed doing this and now I have done this a few times I am finding public speaking easy and would like to do more of it.”

Another young person, who helped document the day, told us:

“I enjoyed filming the interviews for the event cinema project. It was great to capture everyone’s thoughts and be part of the process.”

You can watch the short video they created below!

There’s something wonderful about seeing how each of these event cinema projects takes shape. Each year has had its own flavour, its own focus. And each time, the experience grows more confident, more collaborative, and more creative. As one participant summed it up:

“This is the third time we have done an event cinema and each one has been very different but all have been good.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Huge thanks to our friends at Motiv8, the youth workers who make this all possible, and most importantly, to the young people who keep showing up with ideas, enthusiasm, and heart. You’re the reason we keep coming back for more.