2012 Cultural Olympiad

As part of 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the partner organisations across the UK film industry and community, including Film London, will be taking part in Film and Video Nation. This UK-wide, four year festival, is taking place in the run up to 2012 Olympics and will involve more audiences watching, experiencing and making film.

A key part of Film and Video Nation are the Film and Video Nation Talent Talks, a nationwide programme of talks and masterclasses. This range of activities aims to bring young people, emerging talent and a wide range of other audiences, together with some of the world's most popular film-makers (Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame or David Yates from Harry Potter). A much more populist and accessible version of the Reith lectures, these talks will start in 2009 in run up to 2012 and will celebrate a particular theme or debate.

The talks and masterclasses, which may be virtual or physical events, will run during some of the UK's most popular film festivals (such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival and The Times BFI London Film Festival.) They aim to be wide-reaching and have the capacity to engage a wide audience share, as content will be readily available through the use of interactive technologies.

The culmination of the programme will be The London International Film Talks 2012, a four day event taking place in July 2012, where famous film-makers from all over the world will land in London at the biggest forum ever held to discuss an celebrate film. The focus of the talks will be 'How Films Can Change the World', discussing and celebrating the global medium of film and it s role in our cultures.

The talks, to be held at London's South Bank Centre, will be linked to live debates across the UK, as well as podcast online. Edited highlights will be shown on Live Sites and BBC Big Screens in major cities across the UK and on the Olympics Live Sites. As well as having appeal for a general public audience, this flagship event will engage players in the UK and international film industry.