Film
In addition to its world/arts film programme, Watershed has played host to (and helped organise and run) many film festivals, including RESFest 2002, Depict!, Brief Encounters (now Encounters Film Festival), the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Black Pyramid, Latin America Week, VisionSign (celebrating deaf moving image culture), and Slapstick Film Festival, among others. Wildscreen, a festival of wildlife documentaries and related films, began at the Watershed.
Regular activities include evening classes, special film events, a film discussion group - Cinephiles, and educational screenings with introductions and documentation. British Film Institute touring programmes are regularly screened. The Keeping it Reel Series aimed at 12 - 15 year olds has, since 1997, offered young people the chance to discover what happens behind the scenes in the film industry. It was launched in 1997 by Paul McGann and featured lectures & seminars by local actor Christopher Morris, Shawn Sobers of HTV, filmmaker Fergus Colville, Casualty make up artist, Chrissie Powell and EastEnders executive producer Matthew Robinson.
In 2000, the Independent on Sunday's list of "five of the best indie cinemas" put the Watershed at the top, citing its wide-ranging, international programme. A 2002 poll for The Guardian rated the Watershed as Britain's fifth most popular independent cinema.
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