Yalda

'Yalda' is a short experimental fiction film made for 'The City Speaks', an innovative collaborative project developed by Film London Artists' Moving Image Network and BBC Radio Drama. Artist film-makers and writers, collaborating with acclaimed author Peter Ackroyd, composer David Pickvance and specialist sound engineers, were commissioned to create 14 minute audio-visual artworks to form a center-piece of the BBC Radio 4 season in 2008, celebrating London as a cosmopolitan city. The project provided artist filmmakers with an opportunity to collaborate with professional writers, and enabled writers to work outside of traditional radio play conventions. 'The City Speaks' is composed of 6 x 14 minute audio-visual works, Yalda being one of these, conceived as truly innovative multi-disciplinary and cross-platform artworks for contemporary media to be presented across a range of contexts. In 2008 the project will launch at the NFT, London, and broadcast nationally on Radio 4 and across a number of digital and interactive broadcast platforms.