A new festival celebrating and promoting Leicester’s creative media industry will launch this autumn.
Festival of Media Stories promises industry experts from across film, television and advertising to host a series of talks and workshops at University of Leicester.
Taking place between Thursday 12 September and Friday 13 September, guest speakers include Vincenzo Natali, John Yorke, Matt George Lovett (Moonbug Entertainment), Steff Lee (Kino Bino), Bella Tomlinson (Kino Bino) and Lucy Hayto.
The festival is also accepting submissions for short films to be screened at University of Leicester’s Attenborough Film Theatre. Award categories for films submitted to the festival include:
- Youth Creative Award (16-18 years)
- Student Creative Award (18+)
- Short Form Factual Stories
- Short Form Fictional Stories
- Long Form Stories
- Super-Short Storytelling
- Auditory Storytelling
- Best Visual Storytelling
- Best Script in a production
Festival Founder and Teaching Fellow at University of Leicester, Helen Bruce said: “As a filmmaker and media producer growing up in the Midlands, I found it a challenge to access an industry which was primarily based in London.
“This ultimately restricted my access to careers, and as a result I also found it difficult to gain the industry insights which would help me to move forward in my pursuit. Because of the industry being inaccessible to some, it has suffered from a lack of diversity.
“The Festival of Media Stories aims challenge this and inspire inclusion, by developing and celebrating talent from all over the world, here at the University of Leicester and in the Midlands.
“We want to open up opportunities for our students, so they have access to industry insights locally. We strive to bring together the community, allowing our students and local creatives the opportunity to network with each other. Ultimately, we aim to celebrate the creative diversity we have on offer in Leicester.
“Leicester deserves to be on the creative map as a city rich in culture and heritage, so we want to endorse that, and make Leicester a creative hub for the Midlands. The Festival of Media Stories has recently become a BFI network partner as part of the Film Hub Midlands, and in addition to this year’s guests we have built partnerships with local companies such as LCB Depot, The Phoenix Cinema and Film Leicester.”
We hope to continue to build our local connections, as we move towards our aims of connecting the local community, and helping our students contribute towards creative sector growth here in Leicester.”
More information about Festival of Media Stories can be found here.
