Film studies

Great news about £8 million being awarded to my old next-door neighbour the Whitworth Art Gallery. The money, from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will go towards the long-awaited MUMA-designed extension, which will double the public space and introduce a new main entrance into the building from Whitworth Park. An art garden will also be created, which sounds very pleasant; read more on the project here.

If you fancy seeing the Whitworth before the changes get underway, combine your trip with the free Unravel drop-in workshop taking place for one day only in the gallery this Saturday (26 February), 11am-4pm. Follow @unravelfilm on Twitter for updates.


The Unravel project aims to create an epic 16-hour hand-painted film that correlates in length to 874 miles - the distance from John O'Groats to Land's End. Winner of the Deutsche Bank Award for Art at the Royal College of Art 2010, Unravel is involving as many people as possible across England, Scotland and Wales in collaboration with national film venues, art galleries, community spaces and educational institutions.

The organisers Chris Paul Daniels (my pal Jo's cousin, I believe), Maria Anastassiou, Mark Pickles, Jo Byrne and Manchester-based Kelvin Brown say: "Unravel aims to turn the viewer into the maker of the work in a literal 'hands-on' way. We hope that these events will be an entertaining, informative and inspiring introduction to film-making, providing an informal setting for people to interact with each other as much as the project." Enjoy!