Educational Mayflower Film Project

This exciting and creative project involves young film makers in the region. We are creating a touring cinematic event for the public, which we hope will be screened nationally and internationally in other towns involved in the Mayflower commemoration.

We have teamed up with students on Plymouth College of Art’s Film Degree Course, headed by Film Leaders Lucy Leake and Chris Bailey, and with multi-award-winning Producer/Director, Peter Nicholson. Peter is leading and coordinating the project, and he is passionate about fostering talent among young filmmakers and actors in the South West. Students from local schools have the opportunity to work on the films as part of their work experience.

The idea at the heart of the project is to produce four short (10min.) films, each inspired by an aspect of the Mayflower story, or an issue that the Pilgrim’s faced: themes such as Migration, Religious Intolerance, Cultural Integration and Social Justice.We are not setting out to tell the history of the Pilgrim’s journey per se, but to make modern, relevant and diverse short films that have been inspired by their story, and that can say something powerful and resonant about the problems facing humanity in the 21st Century.

The first phase of this project has now been completed, and the students have created two very different films – a documentary and a drama. We are showing these two films as a pilot project at screening events for funding bodies and sponsors, to gather support for the full four film event.

Phase two of the project is now under way, with second year students working on their ideas for two more films.

The full programme of four films will be premiered at The Flavel Arts Centre on 31st August 2020, as part of our Mayflower Week celebrations.