City Park will be a window on the world throughout the month of June with a specially commissioned film festival featuring exciting short films from across the UNESCO Cities network, it was announced today.
As UNESCO’s first City of Film, Bradford lead, David Wilson invited entries from fellow Creative Cities and was overwhelmed by the response.
Mr Wilson said: “I was utterly delighted to receive so many entries – with more than half the network getting involved. There are 116 creative cities across 54 countries with many of the cities having different designations from gastronomy to craft, to design and of course film cities like ourselves.
“The huge interest really demonstrates that film can unify all our cities and act as catalyst through which we can show to the rest of the world those elements which are unique and special about all our cities.”
The high standard of films will be a challenge for this year’s People’s Panel who will meet once again at City Hall on Thursday 15th June at 6pm to judge the entries. There are 60 places on the People’s Panel. Any member of the public with an interest in film can get involved so should you wish to take part please email Bradford.unesco@gmail.com to reserve a place. They will be issued on a first come first served basis.
All films which met the criteria will be screened on Bradford Big Screen every day throughout June 2017 for the Small World Film Festival and a selection of the films – chosen by the People’s Panel – will be shared at a special screening of the UNESCO annual meeting in France later in the month.
Bradford are also liaising with the city of Santos in Brazil, who recently joined the network as a UNESCO City of Film. There is a plan to exhibit the films from the Small World Film Festival at the 3rd edition of the Santos Coffee Festival in July 2017.
Entries have come in from all corners of the globe, from the United States and South America to New Zealand and from Afghanistan to China. The films feature a range of high quality cinematography, story telling, documentary and animation to reveal the stories of their cities and their people for the festival’s theme “My City.”
Films will be shown on rotation between 1pm to 2pm and 5.30pm to 7.30pm every day in June. The full programme can be seen here
Big Screen Bradford is giant outdoor screen in the heart of one of England’s most vibrant and exciting cities with an international reputation for film and media.
Situated in front of the National Media Museum in the award winning City Park with its mirror pool and shooting fountains, the screen is a pioneering arts project designed to bring cutting edge film and creativity to the heart of the urban environment.
Up to 500,000 people pass the screen each month – offering unprecedented exposure for filmmakers to showcase their work.
Read all about it in the Bradford Telegraph & Argus HERE
