As Arena, the BBC’s longest-running and most influential arts programme, celebrates its 40th anniversary, the strand has produced an unprecedented audio visual experience. Arena: Night and Day runs continuously for 24 hours, following the pattern of day and night, drawn exclusively from Arena's rich and varied archive of over 600 films. Night and Day is designed to be experienced on any platform and in any space.
Arena Night and Day was especially cut together by Arena’s editor Anthony Wall, using material exclusively gathered from the hundreds of hours of programming shot by numerous directors over 40 years in every time zone and continent on earth.
Anthony Wall said: “This is without question the most interesting and exciting project I’ve ever worked on. It’s been an adventure and a privilege to have worked for so many years for Arena and the BBC. I appreciate the invitation of Cambridge Festival of Ideas to test our experiment out in such an imaginative way.”
Dr Frederick Baker, who has made a number of outstanding Arena films and is a member of the Cambridge University Film centre, has worked with a team of academics and students to bring the longest Arena of all time to screens across the city.
Speaking about the film inundation, Dr Baker said: “This event is a media experiment that gives a new meaning to the notion of broadcasting, casting its visual net beyond the realm of traditional venues like TVs and spreading its images to screens large and small in professional and non-professional networks, hubs and outdoor projection spaces.
“The message is broadcasting is getting broader all the time: more screens, of more sizes with more channels, to broadcast to broaden minds from the market square to the world-class university. This is a completely unique event and has never been done before. Our aim is to get people talking about broadcasting and its future.
“The film was originally shown during the Cambridge Film Festival last month but this is a re-edited, new version. We have synced the film to match sunset and sunrise of the 23rd and 24th October.”
While the film can be seen at various locations in Cambridge, viewers will also be able to watch it on their laptops as it will be streamed from a dedicated website: http://nightandday.arenahotel.tv/player
Following the film inundation, on Saturday 24th October between 5-6pm the Cambridge Festival of Ideas will host a discussion about the past, present and future of public service broadcasting. Those speaking include Alan Yentob, BBC Creative Director; Anthony Wall, BBC Arena Series Editor; Georgina Born, international authority on the BBC and public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Europe; and Dr Frederick Baker, Film Director and Senior Research Associate, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. The talk will consider new broadcasting formats and platforms, for instance online, and critical partnerships with universities and communities, seeking core interaction between the best research and best creatives.
Confirmed venues at time of release: King's College Shop, Selwyn College, St John's College, Wolfson College, The Alison Richard Building, Raised Faculty Building, Sidgwick site, Corpus Christi College, Long Road Sixth Form College, Central Library, Microsoft Research Centre, Cambridge Junction, The Mill Pub, The White Swan Pub, Hot Numbers café, The Alex Pub, and Cafe Arena.
Established in 2008, Cambridge Festival of Ideas aims to fuel the public’s interest in arts, humanities and social sciences. The events, ranging from talks, debates and film screenings to exhibitions and comedy nights, are held in lecture halls, theatres, museums and galleries around Cambridge. Of the over 250 events at the Festival, most are free.
The Festival sponsors and partners are Cambridge University Press, St John’s College, Anglia Ruskin University, RAND Europe, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Cambridge Live, University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden, Arts Council England, Cambridge Junction, British Science Association, Heritage Lottery Fund, Heffers, WOW Festival, Southbank Centre, Collusion, TTP Group, Goethe Institut, Index on Censorship and BBC Cambridgeshire.
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Further information about the Cambridge Festival of Ideas can also be found at: www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cambridgefestivalofideas
Twitter: @camideasfest #cfi2015
Instagram: @camideasfest
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