This weekend, the National Media Museum hosts the tenth Fantastic Films Weekend.

Notable achievers in the arts such as directors Jonathan Miller and Peter Sasdy, and cultural commentator Christopher Frayling, will be attending. During the three days, from Friday through to Sunday, 42 screenings and events will take place.

Superficially, at least, it looks as though Bradford will be living up to its status as Unesco City of Film, conferred in June, 2009.

However, although the city annually hosts three film festivals and has supported initiatives such as the 48-Hour Film Challenge, public spending cuts and the scrapping of regional film agency Screen Yorkshire in the past couple of years have been more like a horror story than the sweet smell of success.

Although there was brave talk from City Hall of Bradford bidding to be the location for the new television and film promotional agency Creative North, that will be subsuming Screen Yorkshire, the new location may be at the huge Media City in Salford Quays.

To make matters worse, Peg Alexander, the first City of Film director, left the job prematurely. Since her departure just before Christmas, Gideon Seymour, head of the Bradford arts organisation Fabric, has been filling in.

Although Bradford Council’s leader Councillor Ian Greenwood intimated that City of Film remained a vital part of Bradford’s regeneration plans, little or nothing has been said officially from City Hall since Mr Seymour took over.

He said: “At the last City of Film board meeting, it was confirmed that the Council is identifying resources to pay for a full-time director.

“They are finalising the job description for the role. As I understand it, they will be employing somebody from within the Council, so it will be an internal recruitment.

“As the Council has a recruitment freeze, the board has agreed with that. I am just doing this until the end of the month.

“It’s fair to say that (since December) the job has been challenging. The money that had been funding City of Film, from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund, ran out at the end of March.

“City of Film didn’t have an organisation budget. Fabric has always supported City of Film, so we have been looking after film equipment and editing facilities that are used pretty consistently; so people are still making films locally.

“No-one has committed any resources as yet, but it’s hoped that the three main partners of City of Film – the Council, Screen Yorkshire and the National Media Museum – and other partners like Bradford University, will make some contribution.”

So while things may appear to have been in abeyance pending Peg Alexander’s full-time replacement, the City of Film enterprise has been ticking over.

“One of the things I have done is shift the focus to how City of Film can help to promote Bradford’s image, how it can support the private sector. So City of Film is not dead.

“Certainly there’s still a commitment for the partners to make City of Film an important part of Bradford’s creative cultural identity,” Mr Seymour added.

Bill Lawrence, former head of film at the NMM, who now runs his own film consultancy called Reel Solutions, said he was pretty sure that people still wanted to carry through with City of Film.

He said: “The issue is finding a way to do it. Funding is really tight; but Unesco City of Film still carries a great message. To be alongside Sydney as a City of Film is a good message for Bradford.

“I think Bradford faces the same challenge as everywhere else. The reorganisation of the film industry is still on-going. The UK Film Council has been wound down and has been taken over by the British Film Institute.

“The BFI has launched its film review. By the end of November, there should be a clearer strategy about where film is going.

“City of Film has achieved quite a lot in helping young film-makers in Bradford, working on a shoestring, realise that it is possible to make movies without a million-pound budget.

“A new generation is coming through; they do need support and encouragement. It’s not just about money, it’s about being given opportunities.”