Editor

Bradford International Film Festival today announced that it will be presenting John Hurt with its annual Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th edition of the Festival in March this year. 

John Hurt will be attending the Festival to receive the award, take part in a live on-stage Screentalk interview at the National Media Museum and also to host a retrospective of his work.  10 films, representing the very best work in a career spanning almost 50 years, will play during the 11-day run of the Festival, 18 - 28 March 2010 at the Museum and venues across Bradford and Yorkshire.

The films include John Huston's Sinful Davey, 10 Rillington Place, Alan Parker's Midnight Express,  David Lynch's The Elephant Man, 1984, Scandal, Love and Death on Long Island, Jim Sheridan's The Field, Shooting Dogs and Ridley Scott's seminal sci-fi shocker Alien in glorious 70mm.

Hurt follows in the footsteps of an impressive array of Lifetime Achievement Award recipients at the Bradford International Film Festival, including Ken Loach, Richard Attenborough and the late Jean Simmons.

John Hurt commented, "I am absolutely delighted to be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at Bradford International Film Festival this year.  It is a Festival that I have long admired for its eclectic mix of films and innovative programming and am very much looking forward to visiting the world's first City of Film in March."

Nicolas Roeg will be receiving the prestigious Fellowship Award which honours a practitioner of film.  Roeg is a legendary filmmaker with 60 years experience behind the camera as a director, cinematographer and writer.  A selection of his films will be shown during the Festival and will include, Eureka, Don't Look Now and his most recent film Puffball.

Joining fellow Brits John Hurt and Nicolas Roeg in Bradford this year, which was awarded the title of the world's first UNESCO City of Film, is award-winning actress Imelda Staunton.  Ms Staunton will also be taking part in a Screentalk and discussing her amazing success as a British character actress, her ongoing collaboration with the acclaimed director Mike Leigh and her varied career which has straddled all acting disciplines.  There will be another chance at the Festival to see her at her Oscar-nominated best in Vera Drake for which she won the BAFTA in 2005 for best actress.

Complementing the strong line-up of British guests at the Festival this year is Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles.  He adds a truly international flavour to the Festival and will be in Bradford to support his first-ever UK retrospective.  The Festival will be screening all of his English language films including The Constant Gardener, Blindness and the utterly compelling City of God.  Meirelles will be attending the Festival to support these screenings but also to take part in an on-stage Screentalk interview.

Artistic Director Tony Earnshaw said, "I am thrilled with our line-up of Retrospectives, Award Winners and Screentalks and know that our audiences are going to be delighted with the broad range of films available during the Festival this year."

This year the Festival will be screening films at venues throughout Bradford and Yorkshire including BIFF's home for the last 15 years, the National Media Museum.  The Museum will remain the hub of the festival, where its unique facilities make it possible to present films in every format from 16mm, 35mm and 70mm to 3-strip Cinerama and IMAX 3D. 

Bradford was designated UNESCO City of Film in summer 2009 and the designation will be celebrated throughout the District over the weekend of 18 -21 March 2010.

For further details on the full programme, screening dates, venues, strands and guests please go to:

www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/biff

All guest appearances subject to work commitments, guests correct at time of issue.

About BIFF:

Since it began in 1995, Bradford International Film Festival has continued to be one of the outstanding events in the UK's film calendar. This year, the National Media Museum will be joined by ten satellite venues throughout Bradford and Yorkshire which will make the festival available to its biggest audience yet.

Confirmed venues for BIFF 2010 (18-28 March 2010) joining the National Media Museum are Cineworld Bradford, Bradford Playhouse, Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds, Markaz Restaurant, Bradford, Victoria Hall in Saltaire, Ilkley Playhouse, Hebden Bridge Picture House, Otley Courthouse, Pocklington Arts Centre and Leeds Trinity University College.  All will be showcasing their own exclusive films and programmes as part of BIFF. 

The National Media Museum will remain the hub of the festival, where its unique facilities make it possible to present films in every format from 16mm, 35mm and 70mm to 3-strip Cinerama and IMAX 3D. 

Bradford International Film Festival already welcomes thousands of visitors to the city each year. The added events, from a one-off screening with live accompaniment on the Wurlitzer cinema organ at Victoria Hall to multiple daily screenings at Cineworld, will give even more people chance to experience its diverse programme.

The 2010 line-up will once again include the Widescreen Weekend, Premieres and Previews, the Industry Weekend and the Shine Award will be presented to the best new short film selected from the hundreds of entries received each year. The Museum's unique facilities allow the Festival to present films in every format from 16mm and 35mm to 70mm and 3-strip Cinerama.

Previous guests have included Michael Palin, Virginia McKenna, Alan Bennett, Malcolm McDowell and Kenneth Branagh.

Bradford, City of Film

In June 2009 Bradford became the World's first UNESCO City of Film.  Bradford successfully bid for the title by showcasing its rich heritage in film production and its significant contribution to the film industry's technical development; its inspirational film locations and its diverse society; its celebration of film and commitment to sharing understanding and enjoyment of film through the National Media Museum and the City's annual film festivals.

With its designation as UNESCO's only City of Film, Bradford will now be able to encourage more film makers and enthusiasts to come to Bradford and, in turn, boost the City's local economy; build Bradford's local and international profile and give the community and visitors an exciting and inspiring place to enjoy film.  Bradford will also be able to and enhance people's film making knowledge and develop their film making potential.

The UNESCO designation recognises Bradford City of Film's aim to use the popularity and accessibility of film to all as a major tool for regeneration, cultural development and social inclusion.

City of Film will mark the designation with a weekend of launch events from 18 - 21 March 2010 linked into the opening weekend of BIFF, offering something for everyone: from schools to businesses, families to visitors.

The National Media Museum

The National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, opened as the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford in 1983, with a remit to explore the art and science of the image and image-making, and has since become one of the most visited UK museums outside London.

The Museum is devoted to film, photography, television, radio and the web and looks after the National Photography, Photographic Technology and Cinematography Collections.  Its Television Collection incorporates an unrivalled collection of objects relating to the history and development of television, including John Logie Baird's 1923 experimental apparatus.

The Museum organises three major film events every year - Bradford International Film Festival and Bradford Animation Festival and Fantastic Films Weekend.  It also hosts three cinemas - Pictureville, Cubby Broccoli and the first IMAX screen in Europe.  The Museum shows films in all of the major formats from Cinerama three-strip, to digital, to IMAX 3D.

The Museum is home to two temporary exhibition spaces and recent programme highlights include the Museum securing the only UK venue for Henri Cartier-Bresson's Scrapbook, Photographs 1932-46, and the Museum-generated shows Don McCullin - In England and Live by the Lens. Die by the Lens: Film Stars and Photographers. Entry to exhibitions at the National Media Museum is free.

Other attractions at the Museum include a host of galleries including permanent galleries Experience TV, a hands-on visitor experience about the history, present and past of television, featuring TV Heaven, the Kodak gallery charting the history of photography, the Animation gallery, and the Magic Factory for the young and young at heart.  Learning activities for families and schools bring the Museum's subject matter to life and there are regular cultural events for adults to complement the Museum's changing programme.

For more information visit http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/

Emma McCorkell

V.P Rogers & Cowan, London

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