Bradford on new UNESCO Cities of Film website with Rome, Galway, Sydney and more

Bradford is included on a new website launched today to connect cities around the world with a rich heritage in film.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network site showcases the work taking place between 18 cities and aims to enhance international collaboration.

David Wilson, Bradford City of Film director, said: “Since we were named the first City of Film in 2009, the network has grown considerably with five new additions last year alone.

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"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.”

David Wilson, director of Bradford City of Film.David Wilson, director of Bradford City of Film.
David Wilson, director of Bradford City of Film.

Bradford was the world’s first UNESCO City of Film, recognising the West Yorkshire city as a world centre for film because of its rich screen heritage, movie locations and its many celebrations of the moving image through festivals, related events and approach to film education.

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The event, which is usually attended by representatives from all 246 UNESCO creative cities, has been postponed until later in the year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bristol City of Film has led the design and development of the multilingual Cities of Film website (www.citiesoffilm.org), which contains profiles for each of the member cities, examples of key schemes running in each location and news about collaborative successes and opportunities between members.

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Natalie Moore, Bristol City of Film, said: “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.”

The Film Cities sub-network now comprises 18 Cities of Film worldwide: Bitola (North Macedonia), Bradford , Bristol, 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).

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Grainne Brunsdon, of Sydney City of Film, said: “The Creative City status UNESCO has awarded each of us is greatly helps to champion and develop film and the moving image within our own localities, but 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 communication it will enable, as each city’s creative sector works hard to recover from the impact of the pandemic.”