York St John University is have announced the launch of Nature Matters, a new film commissioned by the University’s Cinema and Social Justice project and York Business School.
The film has been produced by the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives and will premier later this month in York.
This beautiful and powerful short film is a love letter to nature and a call to action to protect it. It uses over a century of archive news and documentary footage from Yorkshire and the North East of England.
It was jointly funded by research grants from York St John University as part of wider work on nature conservation and environmental stewardship, and by the National Lottery Heritage Fund who have supported the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive’s Nature Matters project.
The film reminds us of our innate relationship with nature, exploring our need for balance in a changing world.
The demand for resources, drive for profits and progress is offset against our fundamental human rights to access green spaces, clean air, water, and fertile soils to grow healthy food.
It focuses on the human spirit, as individuals and communities fight to be on the right side of history, on a quest for environmental harmony and more sustainable lifestyles.
Dr Jenny Hall, Senior Lecturer: Tourism & Events, York St John University said: “Nature Matters offers a powerful call to reflect on the beauty of rural Yorkshire and our impact upon it. It acts as a trigger to question and reimagine our relationship with rural landscapes by reflecting on our lives through archival film.
The launch of Nature Matters takes place on the World Day for Audio-Visual Heritage (Friday 27 October 2023) and coincides with an Open Day at the Yorkshire Film Archive, based on the York St John University campus on Lord Mayor’s Walk in York.