About Us
The Radical Film Network is the largest network for activist and experimental film in the world. Free to join and run by and for its members, the RFN supports progressive film culture in all its forms across the globe. If you’re interested in radical film – as a maker, teacher, critic, curator or even just a viewer – the RFN is for you.
the story so far
The Radical Film Network was founded in the UK in 2013 when a group of activists, academics and filmmakers met to discuss the ways in which they could support the development, growth and sustainability of radical film culture. Since then, the RFN has grown rapidly, and now consists of over two hundred affiliated organisations from more than fifty countries around the world. Organisations range from artists’ collectives and production companies to archives, co-ops, distributors, film festivals and exhibition venues, as well as a host of other less easily categorised groups. The membership also includes over 1,000 individuals, including academics, curators, filmmakers, programmers, researchers and writers.
The RFN’s Mailing List enables everyone involved to share information and ideas around the world. For more information about the organisations in the network, see the Directory of affiliated groups. Roughly once a year, RFN members organise a conference. See our Conferences page to find out about these events, and read on to find out how to get involved in the network. More information about the development of the RFN – and the organisation that inspired it, the Independent Filmmakers Association (1979-90) – is available in this essay in Screen.
join the RFN
The RFN is free to join and is open to anyone who is interested or involved in radical film culture. To join as an individual, just sign up to the Mailing List and get involved as much or as little as you like. If you’re a filmmaker, you can also add your work to the database of members’ films here.
If you’re part of an organisation, you can join our Directory of affiliated groups, which is now the largest database of radical film organisations in the world. Just send a logo, a description and your location or post/zip code (so we can list you on our Map) to info@radicalfilmnetwork.com. We’ll then build you a page and share it with everyone on the Mailing List.
Structure and organisation
The RFN is unfunded and is run by a small group of volunteer members of the network. If you’d like to get involved or have any ideas about how the RFN could develop, please contact us at info@radicalfilmnetwork.com.
As an unfunded, voluntary initiative, the RFN is designed to operate in a fairly decentralised way. There’s no official membership register or application process – membership is simply a matter of joining the Mailing List and/or being listed in the Directory, and getting involved as much or as little as you like. Because the RFN is unfunded, we depend on the support of our members and allies to run the network. Find out more about how to support the RFN here.
The RFN’s stripped back, light-weight design helps minimise the labour required to administrate the network. However, the RFN is now the largest organisation of its kind in the world, and this has made it necessary to develop a certain organisational structure. Since 2018, we’ve established a Steering Group of around twenty members of the network with different roles and responsibilities. You can find out more about the Steering Group here. If you’d like to join the group, please email us at info@radicalfilmnetwork.com.
Roughly once a year (sometimes more), members of the network volunteer to host an RFN Conference. These events are pretty much the only time the network meets in the same physical space. They are usually organised in partnership with an RFN-affiiliated organisation and a local educational institution, but each event is unique – bespoke to the people and place that host it. For more info on past and forthcoming conferences, see the Conferences page. If you’d like to host an event, we’d love to hear from you!
The RFN is completely independent and run by volunteers. Donate today and help support our work.
You can join the RFN by subscribing to our Mailing List and by being listed in our Directory of 200+ organisations involved in radical film culture across the world.