Bristol UNESCO City Of Film

16/06/2026

Congratulations to University of Bristol Film & TV Graduate Jacob Joseph Held and the team (India Pluves, Alfie Dickens, Veronica Manuel, Noah Grose) behind short film Puddle Man, which has been selected to screen at this year's Inter-City Film Festival in 영화 창의도시 부산 Busan City of Film, our fellow UNESCO film city!

Puddle Man is a powerful short film voiced by Noel Fielding and starring Dainton Anderson. It follows Toby, a twelve-year-old boy who is evacuated to Dartmoor in the midst of the Second World War. With new fears looming over him, Toby discovers his grandmother Julie's dark past and a mysterious figure who wanders the moorland...

Puddle Man has already won the 2026 Royal Television Society Bristol Student Award for Drama and been nominated for a national RTS Student Television Award 👏👏👏

It will screen in the Intercity Section of the annual festival, which takes place this year from 29-31 August 2026 - what a fantastic international platform 🌐

Watch the film's trailer below, and find out more about the film via its Instagram page

hashtag UNESCO in the UK Bristol Uni Film & TV

A twelve-year-old evacuee uncovers myth and memory on Dartmoor in t...

03/06/2026

Your chance to participate in the groundbreaking research exploring how people really experience film, taking place in MyWorld’s Smart Cinema at The Sheds, Bristol 👇



Get • We’re recruiting participants for our next round of viewing sessions in the Smart Cinema! You’ll watch a factual entertainment TV episode and have your physiological responses recorded, followed by a questionnaire. 

📅 Thursday 11th June
⏱ Sessions last approximately 75 minutes 
🎁 Receive a Love2Shop voucher of £15 

Participants must: 
- Be 18+ 
- Be proficient in English 
- Be able to arrange their own travel to the facility 
- Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing 

👉 Find out more and sign up through the link in our bio

03/06/2026

Great news! Short documentary Risky Routes, co-produced by Bristol and Switzerland-based company , was one of 7 films selected to screen in the UNESCO Creative Cities strand of Green Visions Potsdam, the annual film and sustainability festival held in last week👏👏👏

Risky Routes is a short wildlife film about toad migration in Switzerland and the life or death obstacles amphibians face each spring. Every year, thousands of toads make the arduous journey back to the waters of their birth to reproduce. They have to overcome numerous dangers along the way, from dangerous roads to other obstacles that turn their journey into a fight for survival 🐸

Watch it now here: https://wildreachproductions.com/risky-routes/

Credits:

Written & directed by: .and.the.whale
Produced by: .and.the.whale , &
Cinematographyby: & .and.the.whale
Original Score by:
Sound Design by:
In Partnership with: .olten
Supported by: Foundation WaliDad, & Tierschutz.ch

03/06/2026

Shared via • It’s our 10th birthday and you’re all invited 🎂

Bookings are now open for Cinema Rediscovered, the UK’s leading celebration of newly-restored films, forgotten gems and classic revivals – presented in association with Bristol-based independent brewery Wiper and True.

Rendez-vous Wed 22 to Sun 26  July 2026 at Watershed in and around Bristol, UNESCO City of Film, including a trip to Curzon Clevedon for Queen Kelly with film historian Pamela Hutchinson, underseen neo-noir Hustle at the Cube Microplex as part of Rogue Hollywood, and a Spectacular Saturday at Bristol Megascreen starting with Joe Dante’s Matinee (1993) and ending with Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy (2003)

Following the initial line-up announcement of 70+ screenings and events, we’re delighted to announce Sweet Disaster (1986), a rare 40th anniversary screening of Channel 4’s cult animated shorts programme with Aardman co-founders David Sproxton and Peter Lord, and the UK premiere of La Femme Infidèle (1969), the inspiration for Zvyagintsev’s Cannes 2026 Grand Prix winner Minotaur; ahead of BFI Southbank’s upcoming Claude Chabrol: Elements of Crime retrospective in September.

Find out more and book via the link in bio – pick up a festival pass to experience all of Cinema Rediscovered 2026, or curate your own day pass/weekend pass with a 15% discount when booking 4 to 10 events at the same time, with further discounts for Club Shed members.

Our 10th edition is presented in association with Wiper and True and made possible thanks to the support of the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, and principal sponsors Park Circus and STUDIOCANAL.

22/05/2026

Whilst in Cannes for the Festival earlier this week, Bristol Film Office's Adela Straughan and The Bottle Yard Studios' Katherine Nash were delighted to represent Bristol UNESCO City of Film on a special visit to Cannes Bastide Rouge production studios and business hub - a fantastic example of how investment in creative industries can shape the future of film, media, and storytelling 👏

Our fellow UNESCO City of Film since 2021, Cannes opened this flagship centre in the same year, bringing together education, innovation, production and talent development in one ambitious creative hub.

Adela and Katherine were fascinated to hear more from the Centre's Director Laure Cayla about how Bastide Rouge is helping to build the next generation of filmmakers and screen industry professionals, whilst strengthening Cannes’ position as a global centre for film and audiovisual excellence.

Plus the added bonus of a Virtual Reality experience that plunged them into the ocean's depths!🌊

Our thanks to Laure Cayla and Bilal Sennoun for the invitation and warm welcome 🤝

Ville de Cannes | Bristol City Council | UNESCO in the UK | UNESCO

20/05/2026

We're delighted to announce that Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol have signed an official Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cement the strategic partnership between Bristol’s UNESCO City of Film designation and the University’s Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences 👏

The newly formalised partnership will foster greater collaboration in film, media, research, education and civic engagement in the city, leveraging Bristol’s UNESCO designation and the University’s global reach and academic excellence 🌍

The University of Bristol plays a pivotal role in the city’s cultural and academic landscape, with global ambitions exemplified by the launch of the Mumbai Enterprise Campus, a home for collaborative learning across disciplines, industries and communities based in the centre of India’s financial capital. Mumbai was named a UNESCO City of Film in 2019 and the Campus, set to offer postgraduate degrees in finance, data science, and arts when it opens this Summer, is a strategic platform for strengthening ties and collaboration between the two UNESCO Cities of Film 🤝

The University is also at the forefront of moving image research and innovation, with world-leading expertise spanning film theory, digital media, immersive technologies, and creative practice.

Read more: https://bristolcityoffilm.co.uk/bristol-unesco-city-of-film-and-university-of-bristol-sign-memorandum-of-understanding/
- with University of Bristol Mumbai Enterprise Campus | Film City Mumbai | UNESCO in the UK

📸Philip Walker (Head of Culture & Creative Industries, Bristol City Council), Natalie Moore (Bristol UNESCO City of Film Manager, Bristol City Council), Esther Dermott (Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean, Arts Law and Social Sciences, University of Bristol), Toni Fry (Head of Faculty Global Engagement, University of Bristol)

08/05/2026

Happy 100th birthday Sir David Attenborough, from everyone in Bristol UNESCO City of Film 💚

For your incredible work, helping audiences around the globe understand the natural world and life on earth in all its forms, we thank you 🙏

Through our screens, you have reached into the homes of viewers the world over, improving knowledge of the natural world, fostering understanding of the species we share it with and inspiring us to better care for them, and our planet.

The unparalleled impact of your career over seven decades embodies UNESCO’s values - you have paved the way in education, sustainability and environmental protection 🌍

The city of Bristol is so proud to have been the epicentre of your incomparable output, as home to the BBC Studios Natural History Unit and the many independent companies at the forefront of the NH genre 💚



Video shared from

24/04/2026

Incredible work going on over The Sheds / MyWorld! Cutting edge cinema experience research in Bristol City of Film 👏

24/04/2026

Have you seen? Explore UNESCO South West Trails, a brand new campaign and digital platform created in partnership with Great Western Railway, is now live!

The website - www.exploreunescosouthwesttrails.co.uk/ - offers a curated collection of two-day trails inspiring opportunities to discover all eight UNESCO-designated sites across the South West of England - including Bristol UNESCO City of Film 🎬 👏

From ancient stone circles to pre-historic coastlines and cities of cultural significance, the South West of England is home to some of the world’s most extraordinary places – recognised by UNESCO for their outstanding universal value.

Look out for the promotional posters now on display at key GWR railway stations (including Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway) - and there's also a free competition to enter where you could win fabulous prizes of weekend packages, including overnight hotel stays, free entry to museums, cultural experiences and more!

We're really pleased to be part of this campaign, which highlights how rail travel can unlock easy access to multiple trail starting points, supporting low-carbon travel while celebrating the rich diversity of heritage across the South West 🚅💚

Check out 'Bristol on Screen' for a terrific two-day itinerary celebrating the city’s starring role in film and television ✨🎥🍿

Read more, including a list of all 8 sites, here: https://bristolcityoffilm.co.uk/unesco-south-west-trails-launches-in-partnership-with-great-western-railway/

- with Visit West | Visit Bristol | VisitEngland | GWR | UNESCO in the UK | Bristol City Council | Bath & North East Somerset Council | Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site | Stonehenge | Exeter Unesco City of Literature

22/04/2026

Bristol screen storytellers, take note 👉👉 The BFI's new Expanded Screen Fund, offering up to £150,000 for immersive works of fiction from experienced UK producers and creative leads, is currently open for applications until 3 June.

The Fund is for those with a proven track record who want to take the next step in their practice and storytelling. It will support ambitious, screen-based, immersive works of fiction that explore new ways of interactive storytelling, which use technologies such as VR, AR, XR, 360° media, or other extended reality media, to create audience-facing, narrative experiences. Projects must explore imagined worlds, events or characters, and will need to demonstrate a clear creative rationale for their technical approach.

A webinar for prospective applicants will take place on Thurs 30th April 2026, 11am - 12:30pm.

Read more & apply: https://www.bfi.org.uk/get-funding-support/bfi-national-lottery-expanded-screen-fund

Image credit: In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats (2023) via BFI