LILLE - France (2026)
Monday 2nd March 2026 - Friday 6th March
For our foreign residential project this year, we are planning to go to Lille in France. Film students will be asked to pitch an idea for a short film to be shot on location here, this an open brief - the film could be drama, documentary or experimental … You can of course shoot some of the film in UK too (see brief).
Photography and Art students will have their own brief and opportunities to explore the many galleries within the city and region. We will be travelling on Train, taking the Eurostar from London St Pancras direct to Lille. This is something you may also wish to incorporate into the project.
Price: £395
Pay Deposit £100 on Weston College Shop. Open Soon
Travel
We will be travelling on Eurostar train, London St Pancras - Direct to Lille. Travelling to London on coach (National Express or similar) from Bristol.
Accommodation
Proposed accommodation is : Eklo Hotel, 6 rue Professeur Langevin, 59000 Lille
Food: Buffet Breakfast is included.
Two films were made one on our last trip to Lille of which was ‘Jumpers’ - Directed by Alex Drummond
Lille photography trip – Ideas for activities/visits while there
‘At a glance Lille began reinventing itself when it was European Capital of Culture in 2004, and has never looked back. The old medieval town centre, Vieux Lille, boasts ornate guild houses and renaissance palaces, but there are also cutting-edge art venues like the Tripostal and Maison Folie , Wazemmes. Above all, the welcoming Lillois have a deserved reputation for enjoying themselves, which visitors quickly discover in the city’s numerous bistros and pubs. Lille and its neighbour Roubaix have been reinvented as cultural hubs.’ Guardian
‘ Capital of the Hauts-de-France région, Lille may be France's most underrated metropolis. Recent decades have seen the country's fourth-largest city (by greater urban area) transform from an industrial centre into a glittering cultural and commercial hub. Highlights include its enchanting old town with magnificent French and Flemish architecture, renowned art museums, stylish shopping, outstanding cuisine, a nightlife scene bolstered by 67,000 university students, and some 1600 designers in its environs.’ Lonely Planet
Lille Metropole was designated by World Design Organization (WDO) to be World Design Capital in 2020. There is a call for opportunities to develop a projects for this. Again this could be something worth considering when coming up with ideas for projects. https://www.lillemetropoleworlddesigncapital2020.com/
Guides:
Galleries see: LaM - https://www.musee-lam.fr/ , maisonphoto.com , Palais des Beaux-Arts and Guardian Link
Food…
Other links
Lille hosts Short Film Festival in March - https://filmfreeway.com/eurofilmfest-lille
Why Rail ?
"We are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. If we don't take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon."
~ Sir David Attenborough
‘Flying is the fastest growing cause of climate change. If aviation was a country, it would be the 7th worst polluter globally. Brits already fly more than the people of any other nation - twice as much as Americans.* Even if we take other steps to be environmentally friendly, one flight can completely wipe out all the other savings.’ https://www.flightfree.co.uk/why-flight-free
‘Flight Free UK is a people-powered campaign which asks people to agree not to fly in the year of 2020 – knowing that 100,000 others have pledged to do the same. It’s about taking collective responsibility to reduce the amount we fly in order to lessen our impact on the planet.’ * I have spoken to this campaign group who are keen to feature our project on their blog.
There are plans for Bristol Airport, where we often fly from for our residential projects, to expand. ‘The Canadian owners of Bristol Airport want to increase passenger numbers by 50%, from 8 million to 12 million passengers per annum. Further growth to 20 million passengers is in the pipeline.’
UPDATE: Plan to expand Bristol airport rejected after climate protests - Councillors vote against plan endorsed by North Somerset council officers in decision hailed as ‘historic’. 11/2/2020
Albert
The Film Industry has recognised it also needs to ensure sustainable practice and ways to reduce its environmental impact. In UK Albert was founded in 2011, governed by an industry consortium, they support everyone working in film and TV to understand their opportunities to create positive environmental change. https://wearealbert.org/
Albert’s objectives:
1. To enable every part of the screen industry to eliminate waste and carbon emissions from production
2. To empower industry creatives to make editorial content that supports a vision for a sustainable future
As well as the environmental reasons, rail is a fun, scenic and convenient way to travel. You can see the connections, from your home to where you jump off the train in the heart of Lille.
‘trains in Europe are mainly electrified, with a recent push to supply them with energy from renewable sources, while those in North America use fossil fuels (often diesel). In Europe, trains are by far the best choice in terms of climate benefits, even if that’s not as true elsewhere.’ source
PHOTOGRAPHY
Also Close by:
Brussels
Train to Brussels (35 mins) £18 pp
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/belgium/brussels
https://www.brusselsmuseums.be/en/exhibitions/restless-youth---growing-up-in-europe-1945-to-now
Dunkirk
Train to Dunkirk (33mins or 64 mins)