Days of Wonder awarded Heritage Fund grant to celebrate the magic of early cinema in Brighton & Hove

In partnership with Brighton & Hove Museums and Screen Archive South East, Days of Wonder will be delivered by videoclub (the team behind last month's Dreamy Place festival and the popular sound and light installation under Brighton Station) and Corridor (who recently produced the In This Place programme of art projects in the new development around Hove Station and Clarendon.)

The Wonder Lab - a free programme of activities - will take place at Hove Museum of Creativity during half-term in February 2024, building on the success of a pilot event last year. Full details will be released next year of how the programme will fill the museum with artists, filmmakers and technologists, presenting film screenings, projections, hands-on activities and creative experiments designed to encourage visitors to learn about and respond creatively to Brighton & Hove and Shoreham's rich film and media heritage.

Brighton & Hove cinema pioneers set the city as their base of innovation at the beginning of the film industry's birth. These included filmmakers George Albert Smith and James Williamson, who both lived and worked in Hove and started making films in the 1890s. They made great advances in filmmaking, including editing techniques, the close-up, use of locations and sets, and developing film narratives. From 1914 - 1923 Shoreham was home to a thriving film industry with a glass daylight film studio and "Bungalow Town" providing a retreat for the biggest stars of the day.

Young people who want to get involved now, can join The Wonder Club - a free monthly creative programme held on Saturdays for 13-18-year-olds interested in experimental filmmaking and visual arts practice, running from this November to March 2024. Working with artist Chahine Fellahi, members will fuse analogue and digital, experiment with techniques that led to contemporary filmmaking, and contribute to exhibitions and events in the wider Days of Wonder programme.

Ceryl Evans, Director of Engagement and Public Programmes at Brighton & Hove Museums says, "We are delighted to be partnering with such exciting collaborators on the Days of Wonder project over the next three years. Our collection of early film and filmmaking in Hove is rare and important, but not that well known, so this is a fantastic opportunity to share it with a much wider audience in some exciting ways".

Jamie Wyld, Director of videoclub says,"Days of Wonder not only celebrates the magic of early cinema and filmmaking in our city, but also its spirit of creativity and innovation. We are immensely grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for enabling this important project and the creative sparks it will kindle in so many".

Days of Wonder is also supported by Arts Council England and Brighton & Hove Museums. For more info visit: corridorprojects.org.uk/days-of-wonder