Mor Media | new name reflects far-reaching film passion

Cornwall Film Festival does so much all year round and from this summer, it will be known as Mor Media Charity. The name shift is set to better reflect what the organisation behind the festival really gets up to on a daily basis, supporting, promoting and push creative media in the county.

Scope

Its community and education projects now support up to 9,000 people, every year. 15,000 people attended its AMPLIFY! digital film festival last year and the charity also reached almost 80,000 people through its online industry talks and masterclasses.

Adventure

Executive director Louise Fox said that the film festival, which is now in its 20th year, “would still be a key part of the experience, but not the whole adventure”.

She added: “We thought it was time our name reflected the work we do as a charity – in our community, in our industry and through education.

Bold and brave

“The Covid crisis has taught us that we need to be bold and brave and imagine a new organisation that draws on the wealth of experience of the people who made the Cornwall Film Festival. With all our live events shifting online we saw it as an opportunity to reach more people. For us, the events didn’t change, the stage did.”

Fantastic initiative

The charity last year put on AMPLIFY!, its first digital online festival, backed by the British Film Institute (BFI). Tricia Turtle, director of festivals at the BFI, called it “a fantastic initiative … getting independent films to audiences, championing underrepresented voices with films from female and LGBTIQ+ filmmakers from around the world and diverse backgrounds”.

Health and wellbeing

Mor Media Charity’s future calendar will include a core programme of events, including the flagship film festival and, as Covid restrictions are eased, more live events. Its community programmes across Cornwall will be working with hard-to-reach groups who are facing social, cultural or economic exclusion from the richness of media culture, with a focus on improving their health and wellbeing.

Confidence

The charity’s industry programmes aim to enhance career prospects and deepen understanding of the media industry, while its Media Education and Training programme delivers high quality, skills-based, training to help content makers to grow in confidence.

Thriving

Louise added: “We need to adapt to survive. I am incredibly proud of our small team which responded to the needs of our community and industry – that has resulted in us thriving.”