“The first film we acquired was Cette Maison (2022), a Haitian-Quebecois film by Miryam Charles,” Isra Al Kassi, co-founder of the independent distribution outfit T A P E Collective, tells Deadline, over coffee, in London.
“It’s an experimental documentary shaped around reenactments, and at the time, so many people said to me, ‘What were you thinking? That’s a hard sell, but you did it.’ The reviews were great, and it made the Sight & Sound best films of the year list.”
In the ensuing years, the T A P E Collective has become experts in the “hard sell,” acquiring an eclectic list of titles and providing them with inventive, bespoke theatrical releases. Highlights include Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias, an acquisition out of Venice in 2023, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s beloved debut feature, The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, and, most recently, All That’s Left Of You, the latest feature from Cherien Dabis.
Cherien Dabis during a Q&A in London for ‘All That’s Left of You.’ Credit: T A P E Collective.
“There was an issue at the heart of the UK landscape in terms of distribution, and we couldn’t figure it out. We didn’t understand why certain films weren’t coming to the UK, so we just started doing it,” Al Kassi explains.
This month, T A P E celebrates its 10th anniversary.
The company was founded in 2015 by Al Kassi and Angela Moneke. The pair met through the Barbican’s Young Programmers scheme. They initially made their names hosting popular events and curating repertory seasons—many of which have become influential among a new generation of film professionals—across the UK.
The T A P E team has now grown, and the company has its hand in many different pies across the film ecosystem, including production. Below, Al Kassi speaks with us in depth about leading T A P E over the last decade, challenging the traditional “distribution machine,” upcoming releases, and the company’s vision for the future, including plans for a physical cinema space.
DEADLINE: Thanks for chatting, Isra. 10 years is quite the achievement.
ISRA AL KASSI: I’m happy to chat. Transparency is so important. One of the reasons we delayed moving into distribution for so long was that no one was telling us how to do it. The structures of the UK distribution landscape are so limited and obscure. But how I navigate and negotiate deals is that I’m honest and say upfront that I don’t negotiate or outbid anyone. The films we distribute aren’t films that I’m going to compete over, because I don’t believe in films being a ‘get.’ I see films as gems that people are missing out on, for whatever reason. Maybe we’re producing too many films. Maybe the right people aren’t distributing these films, or they don’t feel commercially viable to some. We then look after them. And one of the rules I have is that the filmmakers we work with have to be nice, and we’ve been really lucky with that.
DEADLINE: You mention commerciality. Has this strategy worked for you commercially?
AL KASSI: It’s worked for us with the resources we have. We’re not doing any less than bigger distributors. We just don’t have a machine behind us. Also, we’re not-for-profit as an organization. I’m not driven by commercial success, which is difficult for people to understand because distribution does involve money. Moving into distribution was a conscious decision. We had initially made our name in community-focused curation, creating buzz around films with our events.
For example, we did a project called ‘Found in Translation,’ where we took Isabel Sandoval’s Lingua Franca and Leyla Bouzid’s A Tale of Love and Desire, both of which had been undistributed, and took them on a whole screening tour. It was essentially a distributor’s job, but we had no ownership of the films. So we thought, how do we continue the legacy of these films? Where is the return? That’s why we are now building a library, and how we acquire films for it is flexible. Khartoum (2025) just joined our library because there was so much demand in the UK, but no one had acquired it, so we’re working with the sales agent and filmmakers. We’ve also recently acquired Naked Acts (1996). That’s a film that is so aligned with T A P E’s work, and why should it just be available for runoff screenings for an American sales agent when we can look after it?
DEADLINE: What do you mean by the machine?
AL KASSI: Distributors often discuss how they handle a certain number of titles each year with a specific budget. We’re not part of that distribution machine because we’re not at the mercy of the distribution landscape. What we’re trying to do is a different distribution strategy. We begin by thinking about the specific film’s needs and who it might reach. And how can we reach them? We also can’t afford to abandon our films after the theatrical launch. The longest period our films are given in cinemas is two to three weeks, so we need to think beyond the theatrical launch and build conversations around the title with audiences.
DEADLINE: How is your team set up? How many of you are there?
AL KASSI: Angie and I are co-founders, and I manage the day-to-day operations. She is the Vice President of Production at Working Title, and we’re in touch on any major decisions. We have Cristina Garcia, who is our Operations Manager, and Lois Stevenson, who works on design and branding. Tomiwa recently joined the company. None of us has a background in distribution. The team is small, and everyone works part-time. That’s why I say that with the resources and scope of our team, we are doing incredible things.
Poster from T A P E’s ‘Snapshot’ film season.
DEADLINE: What do you consider your greatest success over the past 10 years?
AL KASSI: Our ‘But Where Are You Really From?’ season at the BFI Southbank was huge and served as a launching pad for us. I must say, however, that we’ve been doing the same things for 10 years. But we didn’t get a single penny of funding or institutional recognition until 2020, so there are a lot of things to acknowledge there, like the escalated BLM Movement, but also institutional guilt. It’s unfortunate, but if 2020 hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be in this position today. It’s important to acknowledge that.
And then after that, I think Bye Bye Tiberias was big for us in the sense of being able to work with such exceptional talent, and seeing how well a film can do in cinemas if people respond to it. The film’s success was a combination of things. We started conversations about acquiring it before October 7th, but after that, people were obviously interested in Palestinian stories. Also, Hiam Abbass’ involvement helped. That release allowed us to see that a film like Bye Bye Tiberias can actually be seen on a wide scale. Those are two things, but we’re so proud of every single thing. We’ve done so much.
DEADLINE: You credit 2020 for a lot of T A P E’s success. But the company has grown a lot since then. There must also be something else to this? What do you think has helped you?
AL KASSI: Honestly, relentless ambition. For the first five years, Angie and I were just not sleeping. We both had jobs. We believed in it so much. I teach distribution at UAL, and students often ask, “How do you do it?” Unfortunately, it’s sacrifice. It’s really hard work, sacrificing full-time pay and climbing the career ladder. It’s sacrificing time with my son. You’re giving a lot to other people’s projects, but I think it’s important. We have been really resilient.
DEADLINE: Do you have any upcoming releases?
AL KASSI: Our next title is Queer as Punk. It’s a Malaysian film, and we’re launching on May 15th.
Still from ‘Queer As Punk’. Credit: T A P E Collective.
DEADLINE: What are your goals for the next 10 years?
AL KASSI: I want T A P E to have its own cinema.
DEADLINE: What would be the ideal location for the T A P E cinema?
AL KASSI: I’ve often envisioned it outside of London. But I also think about Kennington because that’s an underserved area. Or maybe Camberwell. I think we can probably get it open within the next five years.
We also want to be onboarding feature films closer to completion, so it’s not just about UK distribution, but international distribution, too. We received a small grant from the UK Global Screen Fund, and with that, we’re exporting British short films. So our short film library is being exported to international curators. I also want to be in a position where the filmmakers we work with on distribution can come back to us. And I want us to go into producing feature films. I’m currently in development on a documentary with Iraqi filmmaker and artist Reman Sadani. We’re working together on an Iraqi-Swiss documentary. We received funding from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, so that’s something we’re definitely going to pursue.
DEADLINE: How will you be celebrating the anniversary?
AL KASSI: We’re going to have a party, and we’re gonna celebrate our milestones. We work with so many people. We welcome our collaborators to send in their favorite memories of working with us. We’re also going back to the Barbican, where it all started. The Barbican has a young person takeover on the 29th of March. Our first screening all those years ago was on the 26th of March, so we’re going back to host a screening of Khartoum. We’re also going to drop our 10th anniversary merch.