Dates announced for new festival programme at the National Media Museum

Dates for the UK’s newest videogames festival and the return of the world-renowned Widescreen Weekend have been announced by the National Media Museum.

Widescreen Weekend takes place at the National Media Museum from 13 – 16 October, 2016, following on from the success of the festival’s first edition as a standalone event in 2015. Last year visitors from USA, Canada and Europe joined UK and Bradford film lovers to celebrate large format film technology and the Museum’s unique cinemas. Widescreen Weekend 2016 has received funding support from the BFI (British Film Institute) and BKSTS: The International Moving Image Society.

National Media Museum exterior view at dusk
National Media Museum exterior view at dusk

In addition to Widescreen Weekend, a new event – the Yorkshire Games Festival – will take place at the Museum from 9 – 13 November, 2016, in partnership with the games business network Game Republic. Yorkshire Games Festival aims to establish itself as a leading event in the UK videogames calendar, giving aspiring professionals unrivalled insight from some of the industry’s highest profile names, as well as celebrating the nation’s and region’s strength in game development and design.

Full programme details will be announced for each festival in June, as well as booking information for Widescreen Weekend delegate passes.

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Director of the National Media Museum, said: “This will be an incredibly exciting year for us as we look to build on 2015’s success and develop Widescreen Weekend further as a unique film festival of international standing. We are also launching a new videogames festival aimed at giving students, recent graduates and those breaking into the field access to industry-leading professionals from the region and beyond. I’m delighted to say we’ve already received a very enthusiastic response.”

The Yorkshire Games Festival is collaborating with leading gaming industry figures, the University of Bradford, Bradford College and other organisations to attract delegates interested in developing a career in videogames production. A weekend family event will also take place to bring the fun and technology of videogames to a wider audience.

Widescreen Weekend, which last year hosted director and special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull and visual effects expert Paul Franklin, welcomes back Sir Christopher Frayling as guest curator. It will be expanding last year’s “Student Widescreen Film of the Year” competition into a bigger contest, once again organised in partnership with BKSTS, and is also collaborating with Bradford UNESCO City of Film and its network of Cities of Film around the world for access to rare film prints. 

The festival, dedicated to the past, present and future of large format cinema technology, will feature world and European premieres of brand new restorations of Cinerama films, capitalising on the Museum’s status as the only venue outside the USA which publicly screens Cinerama films.