Yorkshire’s movie city looks to the East by opening new film office in China

IT STUNNED the continent after trumping the likes of Los Angeles and Cannes to be named as the world’s first UNESCO city of film.

Now Bradford has become the first European city to open a film office in Qingdao, China.

A Bradford Film Office plaque was unveiled at the opening of the prestigious new Qingdao Film Museum yesterday, as hundreds of delegates and representatives from film and cinema companies visited the Chinese city for its five-day Qingdao Film Trade and Domestic Film Promotion Festival.

Organisers say the partnership paves the way for a developing the relationship between UK and China in the film industry.

China has the world’s fastest growing cinema industry and the country’s east coast city of Qingdao boasts a population of more than nine million.

The new Bradford Film Office is now based in the western district of the city, known as Lingshan Bay.

In a reciprocal arrangement, Qingdao will also open a European China Film Bureau in Bradford in the coming months, organisers said.

Qingdao University of Science and Technology, and the University of Bradford, are also developing a series of collaborations in education.

Bradford was named as the first UNESCO City of Film in 2009, recognising the West Yorkshire city, home to England’s National Science and Media Museum, for its film heritage.