MANY people will have home video footage of family holidays and special occasions; cherished film charting childhood years, school concerts and sports events.

As well as capturing family memories, the footage often presents social history snapshots of the past; showing how life was lived in decades gone by.

Now the Bradford UNESCO City of Film team is appealing for people to bring forward their home movies, to help create a new film archive of life in the district. City of Film director David Wilson hopes the call-out will unearth hidden gems, with the aim of creating an archive that reflects the diversity of the population right across Bradford.

The initiative is building on the success of Memory Bank Bradford - supported by Bradford City of Film - featuring footage of the district from the 1950s to the 70s. This latest appeal is for film footage from the 1980s to the noughties.

Bradford City of Film is hosting a series of informal drop-in sessions at the City Library and inviting people to bring in footage which captures family moments or public events reflecting modern Bradford.

“Archive footage has a unique ability to tell a story," says Mr Wilson. "As part of our 10th anniversary celebrations we want to take the first step towards developing a new project gathering footage that truly reflects the diversity of the district.

"We’re asking people: 'Have you got footage of a Bradford Mela? Or a family picnic at Bolton Abbey? Or did you capture the zeitgest of the 80s with footage of fashion and music on the high street?

“The drop-in sessions will be the first stage of the Bradford Life on Film project, but also a good opportunity to get together and reminisce.”

The first drop-in will be on Tuesday, April 23 April at Bradford City Library from 11am until 2pm. "Everyone is welcome," says Mr Wilson. "It will give people chance to share their footage, swap stories and register content for the archive project.

"We're asking people to please bring their footage on a memory stick or a web link. If they are unable to do so, they're welcome to come along and tell us about what they have at home on other film formats, like VHS.

"More dates will be announced throughout the summer."

Bradford is celebrating its 10th anniversary as the world’s first UNESCO City of Film with a year-long programme of events. They include the Golden Years Film Festival, aimed at older film-goers, which takes place in October at Picturehouse Bradford. The event will include workshops, discussions and screenings, a film heritage session, a Memory Bank reminiscence session and guest Q&As.

The 10th anniversary programme also includes monthly Memories of Bradford film sessions, at Oastler Market, screening old films of the city. The sessions, organised in conjunction with Bradford and District Senior Power, offer the chance to meet up, reminisce and enjoy vintage footage of local places.

* For more about the anniversary programme events, or the film archive project, visit bradford-city-of-film.com

Emma Clayton