Distributors of Social Realist films do not exclusively distribute them.

One of the most frequent distributors of Social Realist texts are the British company Artificial Eye, whose specialty lies in independent Cinema from both their home country and foreign countries. As social realism constitutes a rather wide spectrum of Independent Cinema (especially in the UK and mainland Europe), they distribute many British social realist texts. Their medians of distribution include through Cinema, DVD and digital (the latter being the more recent). Another Company who distributes Social Realism is one of the UKs leading film distributor; Momentum Pictures, who formed in 1996. Film promotion for Social Realist texts does not differ greatly from that of mainstream cinema. A promotional tool used in all film is the promotional poster and trailer. This film poster will be released at any time before the film is released, from a year to six months. In addition, the director and starring actors may appear in interviews discussing the film, characters and role in it. With this, a trailer will also be released as a teaser to the upcoming film, to draw in an audience. However, promotion is somewhat less vocal in Social Realist Films; where in Mainstream cinema companies will carry out a large advertising campaign to receive as much publicity as possible, Social Realism films do not receive nearly as much funding as the an American Hollywood film. Therefore, they know that the film will not receive as much publicity as others. As a response, a Social Realist films promotional style relies heavily on the accolades and reception it receives. Texts will premier in a film festival, in the hopes that they receive awards and acclaim for their efforts:

These posters both feature several awards received from Film Festivals. This style of advertising hopes to draw an audience from the acclaim it has received. This style of promotion draws a fraction of an audience that Mainstream cinema does. Collectively, Social Realism receives little publicity from the press. If a realist film by a new director is released, it will struggle to be seen by a niche audience instead. If a new film by a big name British Director such as Mike Leigh or Ken Loach is released however, that film is likely to receive significant publicity. If featured at a big festival such as Cannes, the Film may receive some publicity in the press. If it wins the prestigious Palme Dor, it will receive more publicity.

The audience distributors are trying to contact through this are one who is a serious film lover, in that they enjoy generally acclaimed film. They know that the style of film which they are advertising is one that a mainstream audience would not be interested in. Therefore, they must reach a niche audience who enjoy films that escape the confines of Hollywood. Social Realist distributors advertise their films in a number of different places. Depending on the popularity of the Director, their film may be advertised in high street cinemas; this is a rare occurrence. Due to the rising popularity of internet websites such as YouTube, film trailers will be uploaded onto the internet to reach an audience. Films will appear in selected Cinemas, which specialise in independent cinema, and also in film magazines. The most popular of which is the British film magazine Sight and Sound, who are the foremost magazine for an intelligent cinema audience. The imagined audience who the film is meant to appeal to are generally an audience similar to the readers of Sight and Sound: fans of intelligent cinema. Social Realism films can be consumed through several forms of exhibition. When a film has been released, it will typically feature in selected cinemas. These cinemas will commonly be independent film specialist such as The BFI Southbank in London. However, if a films director is popular enough, it may feature in high street cinemas. Other examples of Independent Cinemas and art houses where Social realism films can be consumed are as following:

Arnolfini, Bristol This arts centre, which was founded in 1961 plays host to many events in fine arts, art exhibition, music and in Film.

Cornerhouse, Manchester
Established in 1985,the Cornerhouse is an arts centre which includes 3 cinema screens. As well as many independent films, many mainstream films are shown.

Everyman Theatre, Hamstead

Specialist theatre for Independent cinema.

These companies all present themselves in a particular artistic manner. This is most evident in the fact that most companies presented are also art houses, meaning that they also advocate modern art. Their advertising of Social Realist texts generally have them describing the film as being relevant to a type 'gritty realism'. If the director is well known, or if this film wins an award, this will be included in the marketing. The suggests that this particular audience who consumes Social Realist films are in tune with Britain's contemporary artistic culture, which also further suggests that this audience are a particularly intelligent one. On some instances a film may receive a straight to DVD release, however rare this may be. DVD is another way in which a realist text can be accessed; perhaps it is the most common. In addition, digital film companies such as Netflix can be used to access social realist texts. On the film consumer website Love Film, Social Realist films feature, yet are not particularly well received. Love Film is a mainstream feature, which many mainstream consumers use to gain access to select films. In order to ascertain the kind of audience that acclaims and pans these films, I have researched reviews on Mike Leigh's film Another Year: the average rating which users have given this film is three out of five stars. Users who typically pan the film accuse it of being 'that bad', yet give little or no reasoning behind its status as being so. Generally short reviews suggest a lack of interest in actually deciphering a film's flaws and virtues as opposed to simply hating it. Their writing commonly lacks grammar or media specific terminology. Therefore, it is a safe assumption to label these users mainstream film followers who tend to find films of such a genre 'dull', 'slow moving', and finding them generally 'disappointing'. Little discussion is given on these websites regarding these films, merely short reviews telling whether or not a film is likable. In juxtaposition to the response which Another Year draws from a movie website such as Love Film, it draws a much more positive one on the Niche movie screening site MUBI. This website is much used by those who are interested in intelligent film. Criticism of Another Year is more constructive, in its length and in depth analysis of the film. The people using this website and posting reviews of films here are much less casual film watchers than on Love Film. They are film enthusiasts, which is the kind of audience which MUBI tries to advertise for. Information from users is shared on both review pages and forums, on which a topic is discussed by multiple users. The film database IMDB contains a balance of both casual and enthusiastic film watchers. Those who appear to enjoy Social Realist texts such as Another Year typically post longer and more intellectually charged comments regarding film rather than those who dislike it. This is not to say that the only people who don't like social realism films are those without the mind to understand them: it is all down to personal preference.