15th Bradford Animation Festival

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 and tickets for individual screenings from £3.70

Box office 0870 7010200 www.baf.org.uk

BAF Game, Bradford Animation Festival’s splinter strand dedicated to exploring the connections between video games, animation, and film returns for another year from Wednesday 12 to Saturday 15 November – for the first time running throughout the duration of BAF. In strong partnership with the University of Bradford and Game Republic, BAF Game will feature talks, discussions and screenings at the University of Bradford and the National Media Museum, led by industry experts exploring the creative side of gaming in all its forms.

This year’s special guest speakers include Col Rodgers, Senior Games Designer at Sega, Ian Bowden, Head of Arts at Rockstar Leeds, makers of the Grand Theft Auto series of games, Tara Saunders from Sony, discussing training in the games industry and Oliver Dunn, Lead Animator at ground-breaking games animation studio Natural Motion.

BAF Game 2008 also plays host to a number of preview and exclusive screenings including Playing Columbine, a festival preview of a documentary charting the creation of a game based on the Columbine massacre and the scandal which ensued, and Second Skin, a new documentary about gamers who live second lives on the internet and through gaming. Big Screen Gaming will provide a unique free evening of gaming on the Museum’s enormous Pictureville screen using the Museum’s state-of-the-art digital projector.

“With speakers from Rockstar, Sony, Sega and Natural Motion already confirmed with more to come this year’s edition of BAF Game looks set to be the best yet,” said Tom Woolley, director of BAF Game. “We’re also screening some fantastic new films that explore various aspects of how games have impacted society, so I’m looking forward to the discussions they inspire at the festival.”

The principal sponsors of BAF 2008 are The WOW Academy and Bradford College. Housed within the Innovative Technologies Centre in Bradford the WOW 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:

Caroline Joynson, Senior Press Officer, National Media Museum

01274 203305 caroline.joynson@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

Sophie Choudry, Marketing and PR Assistant, National Media Museum

01274 203334 sophie.choudry@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

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 which have housed exhibitions as diverse as Star Wars, Bond, James Bond and numerous photography exhibitions from photographers including Paul Seawright and Martin Parr.

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