The Birmingham Ormiston Academy has announced an exclusive partnership with St Martin’s Institute of Higher Education in Malta.
Students from the two institutions have been commissioned to work alongside the Maltese Film Commission to create a series of promotional videos for the Maltese Tourism Authority. The videos, which mark 50 years since Malta gained independence and ten years since the country joined the EU, will explore subjects including heritage sites, festivals and carnivals, and food and culture; and will be used to draw new visitors to the country.
Gaynor Cheshire, principal at BOA, said: “This fantastic new partnership will allow students from both Malta and the UK to learn a lot more about creative media, giving them the chance to build international connections which will be of great benefit to them in the future.
“I had the incredible opportunity to meet with the President of Malta, George Abela, during one of our visits. He emphasised the importance of education and has granted our students special privileges in order to make their films even more successful. Not only will the trips to Malta be fully funded, students will have the opportunity to visit Maltese heritage sites otherwise closed to the public.”
Over the next 24 months, the 30 creative arts students from BOA will make the trip to Malta in groups of 10, each group staying for two weeks at a time. As well as producing the promotional videos students will also attend a film school, hosted by BOA head of broadcast media Nathan Dodzo and supported by the University of London.
Nathan said: “While in Malta the students will undertake specialist training in pre and post-production processes before creating industry standard promotional films for a real life client. They will learn how to edit pictures and sound, compose background music and add special effects. The skills they will develop will be invaluable, not only will they gain access to a wealth of knowledge and experience, they will also have the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded individuals from outside of the UK.”
BOA is open to students aged 14-18 who are looking to pursue careers in creative, digital and performance industries and is sponsored by Ormiston Trust and Birmingham City University, with founding partners Maverick TV and the BRIT School.
