A new website has been launched to connect the 18 UNESCO Cities of Film, including Bradford.

The multilingual website (citiesoffilm.org) showcases work taking place between the cities, which are all part of UNESCO Creative Cities Network. There will be profiles for each city, examples of key initiatives and news about collaborative successes and opportunities, enabling people worldwide to see how Cities of Film are leading film-based learning, engagement and innovation.

Bradford City of Film director David Wilson said: “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're all committed to placing sustainable development at the heart of our cultural development, and we're also keen to collaborate where possible. This platform will be a great help in achieving our goals.”

Grainne Brunsdon from Sydney City of Film, chair city of the Film Cities sub-network, said: “The Creative City status UNESCO has awarded each of us greatly helps to champion and develop film and the moving image within our own localities, but as a network we can be far stronger together. 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.”

The website is being launched in the week that the 14th Annual Conference of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network was due to take place in the Santos City of Film, Brazil. The event, usually attended by representatives from all 246 UNESCO creative cities, has been postponed until later in the year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as its framework, UNESCO Creative Cities of Film is committed to delivering meaningful and progressive programmes of work that contribute to sustainable urban development. Examples of initiatives include Bradford and Bristol's Film for Learning initiative in partnership with IntoFilm, Bradford’s Curriculum Innovation Service and Bristol’s boomsatsuma, training teachers in primary schools to embed film into their teaching practices to engage with young people from an early age.

The Film Cities sub-network comprises 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).

Visit citiesoffilm.org