Image: Urbis, Manchester |
Manchester: former Victorian Industrial capital, birthplace of Rolls Royce and the computer, a city of bloody-minded non-conformists since the building of the Manchester Ship Canal.
Now, one of the top cities of Europe , a centre for urban renewal, as Victorian neogothic and classicism are fused with the latest architectural styles to create a futuristic urban gothic. Evidenced in such recent constructions as Urbis (a contemporary world-class museum of urban city living), the transformation of the former Daily Mirror print factory into a modern entertainment complex known as Printworks and the conversion of tens of city centre Victorian warehouses into flats and trendy apartments, as the rush to join in on city centre living gathers momentum.
Manchester's a great place to eat out, whether you want Chinese, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, the latest in French nouvelle cuisine, or just a good greasy spoon cafe. Famous for its football teams (United and City), its bands, its literature, its comedians, and its TV productions companies.
The home of Factory Records, the Hacienda, Joy Division, New Order, the Fall, the Buzzcocks, the Smiths, the Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses, Oasis, Lamb, Badly Drawn Boy, Doves and this year's next big things from Beats for Beginners, John Cale and Test Icicles. Whatever Manchester bands do today, everyone else will do sixth months from now, and nowhere near as well.
Birthplace of Anthony Burgess - who set "A Clockwork Orange", right here, and of the notorious Savoy Books. In the frontline of taboo-busting comedy, from Les Dawson and Bernard Manning, to Steve Coogan, Caroline Aherne, and Johnny Vegas.
Home of Granada TV and Red Productions, and thus location for groundbreaking TV such as "Coronation Street", "Cracker", "Cold Feet", "Queer As Folk", "The Royle Family", "Linda Green" ,"Cutting It" and home of Paul Abbots TV smash “Shameless”, starring an award winning cast.
Location, too, for films such as "The Living Dead at The Manchester Morgue", "A Taste of Honey", "Hell Is A City", "Billy Liar", "Butterfly Kiss” and the utterly brilliant "24 Hour Party People", Michael Winterbottom's lightning-in-a-bottle portrait of 15 years of inspiration, perspiration, and creative madness in the Madchester music scene - the bands, the clubs, the guns, the drugs and an oddly ubiquitous man called Anthony H. Wilson (Tony to his friends) - who also just happens to be one of Kinofilm's patrons. With the huge American remake of “Alfie” starring Jude Law, Manchester stood in for New York complete with Yello Cabs and Hotdog stands and Danny Boyle’s new film “Millions” set locally, Manchester is proving to be one of the coolest places in Europe to shoot in.
And as though Manchester wasn’t enough, we’re 45 mins drive or train away from Liverpool, City of the Liver Birds, European Capital of Culture 2008, "Ferry cross the Mersey", the birthplace of the Beatles, and latterly film locations for "51st State" and "5 Ways, John Wayne Didn’t Die".
Sounds good? Then there's no better occasion to visit Manchester , the home of Kino for the 10th Kinofilm festival, happening in the heart of this amazing city.
As Ian Brown once said "Manchester has got everything except a beach". See you there.
