Industry | 2009.06.12
Bradford wins Unesco City of Film award
The West Yorkshire city has trumped Los Angeles, Cannes and Venice to win the UN honour
The world\'s first City of Film will be announced by Unesco today, with the honour going unexpectedly to Bradford.
Although Los Angeles, Cannes and Venice might have been considered shoo-ins for the title, the Yorkshire city has got there first with a bid based on classics such as Room at the Top and the latest work of British Bollywood.
Although it is better known for its textile heritage, Bradford nonetheless has a long tradition of film-making, built with the help of its striking landscape and local acting talent, including Billie Whitelaw and Tony Richardson. The successful bid has been powered by the National Media Museum, the most visited museum outside London, whose move to Bradford in 1983 was a turning point in the city\'s regeneration.
The prize from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation is a "badge of honour" rather than a source of direct funding, but Bradford\'s new status will encourage the city\'s current work to "seed" new talent, working with the local university and commercial studios. The area\'s latest star, Simon Beaufoy, whose screenwriting credits include one of 11 Oscars won by Slumdog Millionaire, yesterday called these plans "inspirational and a benefit to both the local community and the industry at large".
Beaufoy will announce Bradford\'s triumph at a ceremony in the city alongside Steve Abbott, the Bradford-born chair of the bid who produced A Fish Called Wanda and Brassed Off. Abbott said: "Our heritage in film has secured the designation, but I am confident we can bring further credit to Bradford and Unesco with our City of Film projects."
There are commitments to train more staff for all areas of the industry, enlarge Bradford\'s three annual film festivals, and encourage an already thriving support system for visiting film crews.
James Marsh, the Bafta award-winning director of the TV hit Red Riding, said: "We shot on location all over the city last year ... We had amazing support and hired a lot of our crew locally. Unlike, say, London or New York, it was easy and simple to get permission to shoot anywhere. I\'d love to come back and make another film in the area."
The news was welcomed by film-makers outside Bradford. Lord Puttnam said the NMM\'s Pictureville museum, which recently premiered Michael Caine\'s new film, Is Anybody There? , was "simply the best cinema in the country."
The director of the British Film Institute, Amanda Nevill, who previously headed the NMM before moving to London, said: "How wonderful that Britain has a designated City of Film and how apt that it is Bradford. Film is society\'s chosen medium in the 21st century – in our wonderfully diverse society, it provides an engaging and compelling bridge between ages, cultures and societies."
Bradford\'s diversity was a help in the Unesco bid. One of the city\'s festivals is Bite the Mango, which began as a showcase for black and Asian film-makers in Britain and now presents new work from across the world. Local cinemas run several Asian features weekly, and the city was instrumental in bringing the international section of the Bollywood awards to Yorkshire in 2007.
To win the designation from Unesco, Bradford had to show that it had a heritage of film production that has made a significant contribution to the film industry\'s technical development. As well as a host of small films in the earliest days of cinema, the city was able to cite John Schlesinger\'s Billy Liar (1963), which helped launch the careers of Sir Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie, and Lionel Jeffries\'s debut production The Railway Children, starring Jenny Agutter. Other local credits include Yanks , Monty Python\'s The Meaning of Life , The Dresser , A Private Function and Rita, Sue and Bob Too .
Bradford joins two other British cities already designated within Unesco\'s Creative Cities Network. Edinburgh has won City of Literature status and Glasgow City of Music. The network is designed to encourage social and economic development through sharing cultural work.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jun/12/bradford-wins-unesco-city-of-film
