15th Bradford Animation Festival

Press information. . . Press information

BAF Game, 15th Bradford Animation Festival

National Media Museum, Bradford

Wednesday 12-Saturday 15 November 2008

Day passes from £20, full festival passes from £45 (sold out) and tickets for individual screenings from £3.70

Box office 0870 7010200 www.baf.org.uk

Big Screen Gaming has been added to the National Media Museum’s hugely popular and successful animation and gaming festival for the first time.

At this year’s Bradford Animation Festival (BAF 08) console games will be projected onto the screen in Pictureville - ‘the best cinema in Britain’ according to Sir David Puttnam – allowing gamers and non-gamers alike to play a selection from current top titles using the Museum’s state-of-the-art digital projector, accompanied by spectacular surround sound.

This new free-of-charge event is part of BAF Game, BAF’s splinter strand dedicated to exploring the connections between video games, animation, and film, which returns for another year and runs throughout the duration of the festival for the first time.

As part of a varied programme BAF Game also explores the social impact of gaming with special preview films including Second Skin, a new documentary about gamers who live second lives on the internet and through gaming, and Playing Columbine, a documentary charting the creation of a game based on the Columbine massacre and the outcry which followed its release.

“On Friday, 14 November, BAF Game 08 features talks from Ian Bowden, Art Director of Rockstar Leeds, and Tara Saunders and Dan Bardino from the Art team at Sony’s London game studio,” said Tom Woolley, director of BAF Game.

“We will also be screening controversial new documentary Playing Columbine, a film that explores the creation of a game that re-enacts the Columbine high school shooting,” Tom added.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Screen Yorkshire’s Emma Cheshire. Emma will be joined by director Danny Ledonne (live over video chat) to explore the many questions raised within the film.

The principal sponsors of BAF 2008 are The WOW Academy and Bradford College. Housed within the Innovative Technologies Centre in Bradford the WOW Other events include Academy is a unique educational training facility aimed at inspiring young people, students, graduates, trainees, and employees to develop an interest in digital and creative media using state-of-the-art technology. Find out more at www.wowacademy.org.uk or take a special guided tour during the Festival. In addition, Bradford College provides facilities for Games Technology in both Further and Higher Education and an extensive range of art, media and graphics programmes in the renowned Bradford School of Arts and Media – www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk

For full BAF listings and prices visit www.baf.org.uk

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For further information, interviews, images or press passes please contact:

Phil Oates, Press Officer, National Media Museum

01274 203317 Phil.Oates@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

Sophie Choudry, Marketing and PR Assistant, National Media Museum

01274 203334 sophie.choudry@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

BAF 08

BAF 08 takes place at the National Media Museum between November 12 - 15.

Big Screen Gaming (from 9.30pm) and the animator’s marketplace (from 6pm) both take place during a late night opening at the Museum on Thursday, 13 November (until 11pm). These are free-of-charge open events and do not require any pre-booking.

The National Media Museum

The National Media Museum in Bradford opened as the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in 1983 and has since become one of the most visited UK museums outside London.

The Museum is home to three major film festivals – Bite the Mango which showcases world cinema every September, the Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) which takes place every November and Bradford International Film Festival (BIFF) every March.

The National Media Museum is home to the Pictureville Cinema, the Cubby Broccoli Cinema and an IMAX screen meaning it can show films in all of the major formats from Cinerama three-strip to digital to IMAX 3D. A rich variety of films make up the Museum’s programme. More detail can be found at: http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/FilmAndImax/home.asp

Other attractions at the Museum include a host of galleries and exhibition spaces 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 museum also features two temporary exhibition spaces.