THE world’s biggest film festival for young people is coming to Bradford.

Supported by big acting names including Sir Ian McKellen, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter and Naomie Harris, the three-week long Into Film Festival offers a diverse programme of free screenings and events aimed at inspiring youngsters aged five to 19.

The BFI is investing £26m of Lottery funding over four years for Into Film to deliver a visionary new film education programme for young people and schools. The aim is to create a single, unified programme for watching, making and learning about film, to boost future film audiences and stimulate a new generation of film-makers and film talent.

Open to schools, colleges and youth leaders, the festival features film screenings and film-related events based around six themes. The programme, encompassing blockbusters, adaptations of novels and plays, British and classic films, documentaries, foreign language and world cinema, will address the issue of diversity and encourage young people to empathise with others.

Films exploring changes in circumstance, environment, bullying and transition offer the chance to debate topics such as immigration, loss and discrimination as well as individuals, movements and achievements that have changed history or challenged our way of life.

In a survey of teachers attending last year, 83 per cent said the festival made them more likely to use film or cinema visits to support the curriculum.

Fifteen screenings across Bradford includes films such as A Beautiful Planet, Paper Planes and The Big Short.

There will be autism-friendly screenings, and screenings accessible to attendees with a visual or hearing impairment through audio-description and subtitles. Teaching resources linked to festival strands will be available for use at screenings and in the classroom.

Actor Michael Sheen, an Into Film ambassador, said: “Films have educated me as much as school has. Through film, young people can broaden their horizons, be inspired to recognise their potential and tell their own stories so the rest of the world may one day hear them.

"Film gave me this magical world I could go to, that’s something people can get from Into Film.”