10/31/2018
Terrassa celebrates a year as a creative city of Unesco in the field of cinema
On October 31th, 2017 Terrassa became part of the Network of Creative Cities of Unesco in the FILM Section thus becoming the first city of the State to receive this recognition
···After presenting their candidature, promoted by the Taula Local de l’Audiovisual and the Terrassa City Council, through the service of European and International Relations, Terrassa became the first Spanish city designated Creative City of Unesco within the Section FILM, joining the group formed by Rome (Italy), Bradford (England), Galway (Ireland), Sofia (Bulgaria), Bitola (Macedonia), Sydney (Australia), Busan (South Korea) and Santos (Brazil ), which were already part of it. Together with Terrassa, the cities of Lodz (Poland), Qingdao (China), Bristol (England) and Yamagata (Japan), a total of 13 cities, were also called a year ago.
The mayor of Terrassa, Alfredo Vega, valued very positively the work that has been done in this first year of Terrassa as a Creative City of Cinema: “It has been a year where Terrassa has reaffirmed its commitment to the audiovisual sector and where work has been done on the promotion of the values represented by Unesco. The fact of being the first and only city of the State in possession of this recognition is a source of pride, a great responsibility and also represents an opportunity to further strengthen the position of Terrassa in the audiovisual sector worldwide. With these goals, work has been worked on and will continue to work in the coming years “.
First actions: international positioning
A big celebration open to all citizens served to celebrate the designation of the city in one of the first actions of Terrassa as a member of the network of creative cities. Since then, various activities and initiatives of positioning and networking have been carried out.
Once the popular presentation of the city designation, promoted by the Taula Local de l’Audiovisual and the City of Terrassa at the beginning of the year, one of the first actions of Terrassa as a member of the network of creative cities, was focused on making the first rush of contact with cities like Bradford, the first UNESCO city of cinema. Responding to the strategic plan designed, the visit was a good opportunity to strengthen relationships with other creative cities and learn directly from them and their long experience. A unique opportunity to discover a whole series of good practices based on unlimited motivation, social sensitivity and professionalism.
Over the last few months, Terrassa has maintained contacts and exchanges of good practices with other creative cities, strengthening mutual relationships and exchanging experiences. On this line, last June, Terrassa attended the “XII Annual meeting creative crossroad”, the annual plenary of creative cities held in the Polish city of Krakow, following this with strategies for rapprochement with other members of the Network Unesco, creating ties and reaffirming relationships.
On the other hand, the city has also recently participated in the festival of the Cinema di Roma to participate in the “I Cinedays – Lo storytelling urbano delle città creative” by the representatives of the Taula de l’Audiovisual. The Parc Audiovisual of Catalonia or Terrassa’s commitment as a “film-friendly city”, as well as the promotion of audiovisual education within the city environment that defends sustainability in a transversal way, were Some of the axes that the city presented in the framework of this forum.
Cinema at the center of activities as a creative city.
In parallel to the external actions and positioning of the city within the audiovisual field, the Taula Local de l’Audiovisual, with the support of the City Council of Terrassa, continues to carry out various activities to respond to the commitments assumed as Unesco City of Cinema. Among the programmed activities that have been carried out throughout this year, they stand out:
- European Year of Cultural Heritage. Tribute to Carles Barba. The Center for Conservation and Restoration of the Filmoteca de Catalunya, located at the Parc Audiovisual of Catalonia, focused its contribution on a session dedicated to the amateur filmmaker Carles Barba. A unique opportunity to celebrate the richness and diversity of European heritage, raising society’s awareness of European history and values, reinforcing a sense of common identity and appreciating the possibilities offered by our cultural heritage for the development of society.
- Terrassa, ruta de cinema. Cinematographic tourism. Terrassa Film Office presented last summer the second edition of the route, an excellent opportunity to discover the productions, actors and anecdotes that surround the shooting in the city. Through photographs included in a dossier, it was possible to contrast how places, streets or industrial buildings are transformed into scenes of cinema or television.
- First meeting of Spanish Unesco Cities in Madrid. Terrassa has participated in the first meeting at the headquarters of the Spanish Agency of Cooperation (AECID), linked to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Madrid with the assistance of five of the seven cities of the State that have this designation with the purpose of exchanging opinions, experiences and a joint vision of the future.
- TRS fem cinema! First Film Show done in classrooms. One of the commitments that the city assumed to be designated Creative City of Unesco in the field of cinema was to continue working so that the audiovisual language remains well present in the classrooms of our academic centers. From the initial level up to the superior level. In this line, the TRS fem cinema! has been structured in two parts: on the one hand, the “Cinema Initiation Course”, included in the Area Training Plan, and on the other, the First Film Show done in the classrooms, planned for the month of May from 2019 to Cinema Catalunya. A project involving a score of educational centers in Terrassa, Viladecavalls, Barberà del Vallès and Montmeló.
- Libraries, cinema … Action! The BCT Network, the network of municipal libraries, has organized the cycle “Biblioteques, cinema… acció!” with different activities related to the world of cinematography through talks, screenings, music or movie theaters. A series of proposals framed within the different activities that Terrassa regularly hosts as City of Cinema.
- World Audiovisual Day: A week of cinema has been organized in Terrassa to highlight the value of the conservation of film heritage through education, where different historical pieces have been planned. In addition, about half a thousand students from 12 educational centers could enjoy talks and screenings included in the Cinema Week.
- 2019 Modernist Fair dedicated to CINEMA. It is working with the rest of the municipal services involved in the organization of the Fair in order to present the city, from a fun and attractive aspect, the cinema of the beginning of the last century as one of the main protagonists of the 2019 Modernist Fair.
With this followed actions, and one year after its designation as a member of the Unesco Network of Creative Cities, Terrassa continues working and betting to maintain a pre-eminent position within the map of creative cities in the world. The Unesco Creative Cities Network, created in 2004, was created with the aim of fostering international cooperation between cities around the world to make creativity an engine of sustainable urban development, social integration and Cultural life, and to recognize the creativity of its members in seven fields: crafts and popular arts, digital arts, design, cinema, gastronomy, literature and music.
