26/02/2015 - Visit part of organisation’s ongoing outreach into Asia

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, who is also the President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), will be part of a delegation visiting Shanghai for the UK Government’s GREAT Festival of Creativity (March 2-4). The Duke will discuss BAFTA’s intentions to foster creative and cultural exchange between British and Asian practitioners in the film, television and games industries. BAFTA’s ongoing outreach into Asia, which began in Hong Kong in 2013, has so far included masterclasses with British talent, screenings of BAFTA-nominated British short films, a new broadcast deal with Youku Tudou to stream the BAFTA Awards ceremonies, and the establishment of a Hong Kong scholarship programme. 

At the GREAT Festival, BAFTA CEO Amanda Berry will introduce a day of talks focussed on British film, including a masterclass on the making of the BAFTA-nominated film Paddington [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile], which will receive its Chinese premiere the night before.

Berry said, “BAFTA recognises that the film, television and games industries are becoming ever more global, and we believe that opportunities for creativity and innovation will increasingly result from collaboration between territories. We first launched activity in Hong Kong 15 months ago, and engagement since then includes masterclasses with BAFTA and Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne, BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated producer Duncan Kenworthy, and BAFTA-nominated and Oscar-winning make-up artist Lois Burwell.  During the festival we will be sharing our plans to engage with the creative industries and public audiences more widely across China.”