LEADERS in film and television from around the world have descended on Bradford for today's start of the city's International Film Summit.

Visitors have arrived from as far as China and Japan, and other guests include representatives from the newly-crowned UNESCO Cities of Film - Galway in Ireland, Sofia in Bulgaria and Busan in South Korea.

Bradford City of Film was influential in supporting the three cities bids to become part of the network of international creative cities.

Bradford City of Film director, David Wilson, said: “After months of planning, the summit is finally upon us and we are delighted to welcome colleagues from the Cities of Film as well as representatives from other Creative Cities.

“The summit will be the perfect opportunity for Bradford to share its expertise and learnings as the first City of Film with the rest of the world as well as providing an opportunity to inspire our community and discuss the potential around film production in Bradford."

Running until Friday, the summit will include seminars, presentations, panel discussions and screenings focusing on film and TV production in the district, business and education opportunities linked to film, and the power of film to drive social and economic change.

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It opens tonight at a City Hall reception hosted by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Mike Gibbons, followed by a preview screening at the Picturehouse Cinema of X+Y, a Screen Yorkshire backed film starring Rafe Spall, about a young maths genius.

A 100-seat mobile cinema, Cinemobile, has travelled from Galway to City Park. Screenings over the next three days include Bollywood Carmen, the BBC3 production filmed live in Centenary Square in 2013.

Declan Gibbons, manager of Galway Film Centre, said: "Over the last 25 years Galway has developed as a hub for film and television production and more recently for animation as well. Being situated on the edge of Europe we were keen to explore new collaborations and the Creative Cities Network provides a world-class networking service for creative industries with some of the most exciting and innovative cities on the planet counted amongst its members.

"The purpose of our visit to Bradford is to participate in the summit and learn from the first UNESCO City of Film how the designation has positively impacted on the city and how we can collaborate on future projects. We are delighted to help bring the Cinemobile to Bradford, a unique example of how Twin Cities of Film can work together. It's the first of many joint projects, I am sure."

Nearer to home, delegates from York will be attending as the new City of Media Arts and Dundee as UNESCO City of Design.

The Chinese delegation includes visitors in the film and television industry from Shenzhen, home to 15 million people, and southern mainland China’s major financial centre, Jingdezhen.

The Summit programme will be based around four themes: 'Visit', showcasing the film-making benefits of Bradford district; 'Learn', sharing learnings from the Bradford Film Literacy Programme, Bradford University and Bradford College’s International Film School; 'Make', promoting opportunities for businesses to capitalise on film production; and 'Enjoy', celebrating films made in Yorkshire.

For more about the Summit and to register for events, visit bradfordcityoffilm.com.