Written by Shona Smith on Jul 15, 2020. Posted in General Interest

Bristol and Bradford among cities profiled on new UNESCO Cities of Film website

The new website connects and showcases all eighteen UNESCO cities of Film. The site has been launched to enhance the global collaboration of the film & moving image sector.

Cities of Film contains profiles for each member cities, showcases examples of key initiatives running in each location and published news about collaborative successes and opportunities between he member cities.

Grainne Brunsdon, Sydney City of Film, co-ordinating city of the Film Cities sub-network, says: “Whilst our City of Film status helps each member city to champion and develop screen production and screen culture within our own localities, we know that as a network we can be far stronger together than we are individually. We celebrate this new platform and look forward to seeing new collaborations spring from the sharing it will enable, especially as we all work to support creative sector resilience in the challenging economic climate caused by Covid-19.”

The Film Cities sub-network now comprises 18 Cities of Film worldwide: Bitola (North Macedonia), Bradford (UK), Bristol (UK), Busan (South Korea), Galway (Ireland), Łódź (Poland), Mumbai (India), Potsdam (Germany), Qingdao (China), Rome (Italy), Santos (Brazil), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Sofia (Bulgaria), Sydney (Australia), Terrassa (Catalonia), Valladolid (Spain), Wellington (New Zealand) and Yamagata (Japan).

Natalie Moore, Bristol City of Film, says “We’re delighted to launch this new website on behalf of the entire Cities of Film network. For the first time we have a single shared platform that anyone can visit, wherever they are in the world, to learn more about how Cities of Film are leading development in film-based learning, engagement, and innovation. As an online tool the site will help us work more closely with one another, enhance how we share best practice and create new opportunities to collaborate creatively. Given the challenges we’re all facing in the current pandemic, it’s never been more important for us to stay as connected as possible digitally.”

Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as their framework, UNESCO Creative Cities of Film are committed to delivering meaningful and progressive programmes of work that contribute to sustainable urban development. Examples of initiatives in progress within the Cities of Film network include Galways’ Northern Peripheries: Galway Stories Through A 2020 bringing together young filmmakers from across Ireland and Europe to collaborate in an intensive camp to create a virtual production short film and The MIAC (Italian Audio-visual and Cinema Museum), the first multimedia, interactive and immersive museum entirely dedicated to the audio-visual genre in Italy's capital are highlighted.

In the UK, Bristol and Bradford’s involvement with Film for Learning in partnership with IntoFilm provides training for primary school teachers on how to embed film into their teaching practices to engage with young people from an early age.

David Wilson, Bradford City of Film says: “Since we were named the first City of Film in 2009, the network has grown considerably with five new additions last year alone. As Cities of Film we are all committed to placing sustainable development at the heart of our cultural development, we’re also keen to collaborate together wherever possible. This platform will be a great help in achieving our goals.”

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