University becomes the first in the country to launch its own film distribution label

A university has become the first higher education institution in the country to launch its own film distribution label.

eXeFilm has been developed by staff and students at the University of Exeter to bring culturally diverse world cinema and documentaries to the big screen.

Founded in a bid to both assist the independent distribution sector and provide valuable experience to students, eXeFilm is now celebrating a successful debut following the release of a new version of Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo n Juliet 4EVA played at Odeon cinemas around the country, earning strong reviews, and more films are scheduled for distribution in the coming months.

“Today’s film industry is turbulent, and streamers like Netflix and Disney+ have placed huge stresses on the economy of independent distribution,” says Jezz Vernon, Senior Lecturer in Film and one of the projects leads. “If alternate strands of film culture are allowed to wilt then we’ll end up with a homogenous blur of film designed to appeal to the lowest common mass denominator. Through eXeFilm, we want to play a fractional part in not letting that happen.”

Academics and students in the University’s Department of Communications, Drama and Film run the label together. Each release is accompanied by contextual research rooted in the department’s expertise on the study of the film industry, which is then fed into the marketing materials for audiences.

The team is also able to draw upon the guidance of an advisory board, which includes film critic and Honorary Professor at the University, Mark Kermode, as well as British film directors and representatives from the screening industry.

“Each title will have a clear audience and the potential for cost-effective promotion,” says Will Higbee, Professor of Film at the University. “In the case of Romeo n Juliet 4EVA, we saw a significant mobilisation of the Jamaican diaspora in the UK resulting in some very high grossing sites. And in cultural terms, it was great to be able to support an all-black adaptation just weeks after a Francesca Amewudah-Rivers suffered vile online abuse after being cast as Juliette opposite Tom Holland in the West End production.”

Romeo n Juliet 4EVA was directed and produced by Paul Brucknor, the writer of The Full Monty. The film was developed from his Jamaican reality TV series, Conquering Shakespeare, which followed eight high schools competing to present Shakespeare’s work in a local context without changing the Elizabethan language.

Set on the streets of Kingston, the 76-minute film earned a string of positive reviews, including from The Guardian.

eXeFilm’s second release will be Public Enemy: A Greek Tragedy, in late July, an ‘economic thriller’ telling the story of how global financial institutions responded to the Greek government’s Eurozone revolt in 2015, narrated through the lens of then finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and key players like Francois Hollande.

In addition to distributing films, eXeFilm has also launched its own short film channel on YouTube to enable student filmmakers and other emerging talents to showcase their work in a bid to be recognised on a wider scale. They include Paddon prize-winning shorts from students, and A Fever in the Blood, Guardian Film Editor Andrew Pulver’s adaptation of an Ethan Coen short story.

“Film is a fundamental window into other cultures, philosophies and realities, but only if those pathways remain open,” adds Vernon. “And the vocational aspect is key. Most filmmakers and execs begin their career in the indie sector – so to aid that sector, even in a small way, brings broad benefit.”