Cambridge Film Festival has announced its first film event for 2012: a special, one-off day of cinematic indulgence taking place this February at the opulent, French-style mansion of Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, recently restored and revitalised by English Heritage.

The internationally-renowned Cambridge Film Festival – the UK’s third-longest running film festival – celebrates its 32nd edition this year with a range of premieres, celebrity guests, and special screenings across the entire East of England. On Saturday 25th February the Film Festival’s portable cinema screens will pop up in Wrest Park’s magnificent State Rooms for Movies at the Mansion, a specially selected programme of rarely-screened features and short films, including two classics by Stanley Kubrick, a true master of cinema who lived and worked for over twenty years at his own mansion a mere 25 miles from Wrest Park.

The full film screening schedule for Saturday 25th February is as follows:

Afternoon: FREE drop-in family screenings of the award-winning adaptation of THE GRUFFALO. Bring your little ones to take a walk in a deep, dark wood with a brave mouse who outwits a scary Gruffalo.

7.00pm – in the grand Drawing Room we’ll be screening an overlooked masterpiece: Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Thackeray's literary classic, BARRY LYNDON. This breathtaking epic – for which the splendour of Wrest Park makes a particularly fitting backdrop – follows the picaresque adventures of its roguish hero as he cuts a swathe through 18th century society.

8.00pm – the atmospheric Library provides another ideal setting for one of the most chilling and stylish horror films of all time: THE SHINING. Jack Nicholson dazzles – and terrifies – as the writer slowly losing his mind in Kubrick’s spine-tingling adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.

Universally acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential of post-War directors, Kubrick also spent many years living and working in the east of England, making his films the perfect way to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the region.

To help mark the occasion, we are also delighted to welcome Jan Harlan – Kubrick's producer on both films – to introduce these special feature screenings.

All event and film information is online at www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk and you can book tickets via this site or by calling 0871 902 5720. 
    
Wrest Park is one of the most magnificent gardens in England. In August 2011, the first phase of a 20 year master plan to restore Wrest Park was unveiled. The stunning rose and Italian gardens were restored as well as miles of lost path networks. There are new exhibitions in the mansion and garden buildings and for the first time the Countess's Sitting Room is open to view. Visitors to Wrest can also enjoy the new cafe, shop and children's play area. According to Lisa Owens of English Heritage:
 
“We've never had any sort of cinema at Wrest Park before so we're really looking forward to a completely different experience for our visitors. The State Rooms in the mansion are both beautiful and atmospheric so we're very excited about this one-off opportunity to enjoy films in them.”

Movies at the Mansion is part of the Cambridge Film Festival’s Screen Team initiative. This innovative events and training programme – a first for any film festival in the UK – will inspire at least 45 young people from across the East of England to achieve their ‘personal best’ and develop their skills and confidence by taking part behind the scenes – and screens – at film events across the region, including Movies at the Mansion.

The project has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK.  Under the banner of Eastern Rising, Legacy Trust UK is supporting Cambridge Film Trust to deliver a range of spectacular film events across the East of England in 2012 as a major part of the Cultural Olympiad.  The Screen Team has also been awarded the Inspire Mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme.
 

24,000 people from across the Midlands are preparing to dance their way to London 2012 with Lawk Naach, a project bringing Punjabi dance to all corners of the region.

Lawk Naach, run by Dance Sansaar, will deliver over 960 dance discovery workshops and 430 performance classes across the Midlands as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

James Corden and the One Direction boys have already taken part in this amazing activity! Watch the film on YouTube.

Lawk Naach is part of Dancing for the Games, the programme inspired by London 2012 and part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands. It has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, which is creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK, as well as Arts Council England and Advantage West Midlands.  

This project will culminate in a large site specific event, with 2012 people performing Lawk Naach in celebration of the Olympic Torch relay and the London 2012 games. Each of the 12 Midlands regions participating in this project will be represented by a Lawk Naach team - i.e. ‘Team Hereford’ or ‘Team Wolves’. Each Lawn Naach team will bring the Olympic ‘Team spirit’ with them to the finale event and all 12 teams will come together to showcase their newly acquired dancing skills to the world!

The aim of the Lawk Naach project is to reach all communities of the West Midlands, through a series of interactive discovery workshops and online resources. The focus of this project will be two of the most popular dance forms of Lawk Naach; Bhangra and Giddha. Both are joyous and vibrant forms of dance which come from the North Indian region of Punjab. The discovery workshops last 1 hour each and are completely free of charge. As well as learning dance movements, participants get an understanding of Punjabi culture and have the opportunity to take part in the finale event.   

Dance Sansaar are a non profit organisation set up to educate, promote and preserve Traditional Punjabi Folk Arts.  As an organisation they want to increase cultural understanding through the medium of dance, music and visual arts.

Dance Sansaar, partner organisations and artists will work together to enhance the lives and learning experiences of the communities in our region.
 

Eastern Rising is Legacy Trust UK ‘s unique culture and sport programme in the East of England and is major contribution to the Cultural Olympiad in the region. Legacy Trust UK, on behalf of the programme partners, wishes to commission a small evaluation study into the Regional Events Fund strand of the programme. Organisations and individuals are invited to tender for this work by Wednesday 25th January.

To receive a copy of the tender brief, please email Policy and Partnerships Manager Gregg Hutchings at gregg.hutchings@legacytrustuk.org