In an age of second screens and algorithmic feeds, London-based critic, broadcaster and cultural curator Ashanti Omkar argues that the real crisis facing cinema is not access, but attention. Audiences have never had more films and series at their fingertips, yet the patience required to experience them fully is under pressure. Drawing on her work across BAFTA juries, festival stages and interviews with actors and filmmakers, Omkar makes the case for curiosity, deep listening and the human encounters that streaming platforms cannot replicate. In a city that remains both a major global media market and a home to enduring cultural institutions, she explores why British film culture — with its tradition of rigorous criticism, public-service values and live festival conversations — still offers a distinctive counterweight to the increasingly fragmented attention economy.