Exhibition and Education E-bulletin
May 2009
Michael Sheen Inspires Welsh Filmclubbers!
Film Agency Meets With Education Minister
New Sector Forums Launched
Recently Funded Projects
Michael Sheen Inspires Welsh Filmclubbers!
Award-winning Welsh actor Michael Sheen joined members of the Porth County Community School and Tonypandy Community College Film Clubs to talk films, funding, and life in front of the camera
Established by the Film Agency for Wales, Skillset Screen Academy Wales and national charity ContinYou Cymru, FILMCLUB Wales has offered pupils from 17 primary and secondary schools across six local education authorities across the country the chance to order, watch and review films online as part of a one-year bilingual pilot. Film Clubs also have the opportunity to get involved in additional film activity, such as visits from industry specialists and visits to local cinemas.
Commenting on the partners' campaign for further funding to extend the pilot, Sheen said, "Schemes like Filmclub only exist because of the hard work of those involved and through the funding that is available to them. So if I can help to encourage people to put money into schemes like this then I will because it is very important to me."
Pauline Burt, Chief Executive of the Film Agency for Wales said: "Filmclub is designed to inspire pupils about all aspects of film and give them an insight into the industry. It is a fantastic opportunity for these pupils to meet a star like Michael Sheen, I'm sure that he will help to spark the imagination of our young people and broaden their horizons."
Film Clubs will be running all over Wales until the end of the summer term. If you are interested in working with or finding out more about the pilot scheme please contact Hana Lewis at hana@filmagencywales.com
Film Agency Meets With Education Minister
Deputy Minister for Skills joins the Film Agency for Wales and Media Education Wales to celebrate media literacy and launch new Film Education Strategy
John Griffiths AM visited Bettws High School, Newport to see first-hand one of the innovative Moving Image Education projects funded by the Agency. The project, run by Media Education Wales, introduced Year 7 pupils to film language, video filming, editing and ‘compositing' techniques; enhancing key skills and giving them opportunities for creative expression, employment and further study in film and media.
Following presentations of the children's work, the Minister met with Film Agency Chief Executive Pauline Burt, Head of Exhibition and Education Dan Thomas, and John Woodward, CEO of the UK Film Council and Board Member of FILMCLUB. On the agenda was the Film Agency's new Education Strategy, informed by the Agency's detailed and collaborative work with the UK Film Council, BFI, First Light, Film Education, Skillset and the other regions and nations, which resulted in Film: 21st Century Literacy
Commenting on the launch, the Deputy Minister stated, "Film education is a powerful tool for enhancing soft-skills and engaging young people in debate. We are keen to encourage education initiatives that focus on film literacy and therefore welcome the Film Agency's new strategy that will support the expansion of film education provision across Wales."
The Film Agency's new Education Strategy sets out a range of aims and objectives intended to move film literacy and film education forward in Wales. These include among others:
- devising and implementing an accredited professional development programme for both new and existing practitioners (within and outside of formal, curriculum based education) to standardise best practice, increase the number of film education practitioners and increase the quality of film education for children and young people.
- championing collaboration, creating a Film Education Network of practitioners to stimulate collaboration and maximise provision and access for children and young people.
- seeking additional funds to underpin medium to long term plans to sustainably expand film education provision across Wales, without restricting provision by age.
The new strategy is available to read in full on the Film Agency website at: http://www.filmagencywales.com/education-strategy-full.php
New Sector Forums Launched
The Film Agency for Wales is bringing together film festivals, education practitioners and cinema exhibitors from across Wales at new sector-led forums throughout 2009.
Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre hosted Wales' first Film Festival Forum in March, devised to share best practice and ideas among film festivals big and small. In particular the Forum discussed possible collaboration with BAFTA Cymru on securing specialist screenings and previews for their programmes and providing a "troubleshooting" service for difficulties associated with organising festivals.
Representatives elected Lisa Davies, Director of the Zoom International Children and Young People's Film festival for Wales, their new Chairperson. BAFTA Cymru and the Film Agency agreed to continue to give assistance to the Forum, particularly in securing specialist speakers for future meetings.
In a similar vein, film education practitioners had the chance to meet and share their ideas at the first meeting of Wales' Film Education Network. The Atrium in Cardiff saw 15 practitioners meeting together, many for the first time, to develop their plans for future projects. On the agenda was a presentation from First Light Movies acting CEO Leigh Thomas, aimed not only at sustaining the 600% rise in Welsh First Light funding applications seen throughout 2007/08 and a similarly impressive rise in successful applications, but also in encouraging and supporting brand new applications.
In early April, Nick Davies of the Arts Council for Wales chaired a meeting for film exhibitors from around Wales coordinated by the Film Agency. Exhibitors discussed important issues facing the sector, including changes to the agency's core funding for specialist film programming that will potentially see 9 additional Welsh venues receive financial support.
Exhibitors also discussed potential funding for venues interested in hosting education projects or film festivals, and touched on the future of Digital Cinema in Wales.
To see a list of these future digital roadshow opportunities in full, go to the UKFC website.
If you would like to be involved with any of these forums in the future, please register you interest with Hana Lewis at hana@filmagencywales.com
Recently Funded Projects
Successful Exhibition and Education Applications Highlighted
In the closing months of 2008/09 the Film Agency awarded the following grants to Machynlleth-based Film 15 Productions, The Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries based at the University of Glamorgan, and BVSNW's Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Women's Film Club:
Education: £5,000 - FILM 15 @ Tywyn 2009 is a film literacy based filmmaking project engaging 18 young people aged 14-19 in rural former-Objective One areas of Mid Wales. The FILM 15 projects are underpinned by a clear commitment to film literacy; the programme of 14 workshops over 8 months including specific sessions devoted to "Film Theory and Analysis", "The Cultural, Gender, Philosophical, Environmental and Historical Contexts of a Film", "Narrative Styles", and "Foreign Language Film" among others. Film 15 greatly engage with and involve local businesses, communities and secondary schools throughout Mid Wales, in their projects, with Machynlleth forming the base for the annual showcase of the films at the Pink Snowball Awards festival, which attracts 500+ people every year.
Exhibition: £2,500
Education: £1,500 – the Awen Festival of Poetry and Film is a new fully bilingual festival operating out of Cardiff comprising screenings, Q&As, keynote speakers, a symposium, a poetrytheque, and a film literacy workshop and screenings for young people. The Awen education programme consists of a Media Education Wales workshop with poet Aneurin Craddock at a Welsh-medium secondary school in Pontypool. The young people will write their own poem/rap, produce a screenplay to accompany it, film it, and this finished film will then be screened as part of the festival. The festival programme specifically comprises the screening of at least eleven specialist poetry related films from a variety of countries before, during and after the festival weekend on June 12th and 13th 2009. Awen's partnerships with other Arts organisations, particularly Academi within Wales and the BFI on a UK level, particularly strengthened the application.
Special Events: £1,920 – The BME Women's Film Club in 2009/10 comprises women-only film screenings held at Chapter Arts Centre every one to two months, attracting women from Black, Asian, Arab and African communities across Cardiff (in addition to some women from Newport and the Valleys). The BME Women's Film Club organises tailor-made screenings in supportive, friendly environments, which address some of the barriers women might experience in attending the cinema – for example, women-only spaces, daytime screenings, crèche provision, screenings in native languages and a social context in which to meet other women. Titles will be drawn from world cinema, often chosen through recommendations and in consultation with the Chapter cinema programmer and Dave Gillam, Director of the WOW Film Festival. The grant award is allied with accurate collection of specific demographic data and audience figures for each screening.
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