Brighton & Hove Museums has released a vibrant new series of short films created by young people across the city, now available on their revamped YouTube channel.
Released on 16 May to coincide with National Classic Movie Day, these imaginative works were developed through the Young Producers Programme, part of the wider Days of Wonder initiative, which ran from 2024 to 2026 and was designed to engage young people with Brighton & Hove’s cinematic heritage.
Created in collaboration with Videoclub, Corridor, and youth charity Esteem as part of Days of Wonder, the project allowed 11 students aged 16–24 to explore Brighton and Hove’s pioneering role in early cinema.
Working with artists Louise Conway and Rosie Powell and staff from Brighton & Hove Museums, and inspired by archive footage held by Screen Archive South East and the museum, the group delved into collections, vintage film reels, and the stories of cinema’s earliest innovators, before transforming their discoveries into short, social-media-ready videos.
The result is a collection of fun, fast-paced, and informative films, each lasting between 30 seconds and 2 minutes, that breathe new life into historic footage and objects. From clever re-edits of century-old films to green-screen mashups and personal scrapbook storytelling, these pieces reveal how history can inspire fresh perspectives, humour, and even DIY creativity.
This work forms part of Brighton & Hove Museums’ ongoing mission to make collections more accessible, relevant, and inclusive, particularly for younger audiences. The project was anchored at the Hove Museum of Creativity, where the Pioneers and Catch a Shadow galleries provided a springboard for creative ideas.
Esteem, a Sussex-based charity working with young people aged 14–26, played a key role in making the project successful. Focusing on building supportive, youth-led spaces to develop confidence, skills, and well-being, Esteem helped guide participants through the process of research, scriptwriting, filming, and editing. The collaboration reflects a shared belief in the power of creativity and culture to empower and connect young people with their local heritage.
Hedley Swain, CEO of Brighton & Hove Museums said, “We are incredibly proud to see young people reinterpreting our collections in such creative and meaningful ways. Days of Wonder is all about opening up the museum and archive experience, and the Young Producers have shown just how powerful that can be when you hand the storytelling over to the next generation. We hope everyone enjoys watching their wonderfully creative outputs.”
Jamie Wyld, Director of Days of Wonder said, “Film was one of Brighton & Hove’s first big creative industries, and it’s inspiring to see today’s young people stepping into that legacy. The Young Producers have brought energy, humour, and fresh thinking to stories over a century old. This is exactly what Days of Wonder is about – making history feel alive, relevant, and open to everyone.”
Esteem said, “Young people are so often overlooked in heritage spaces, but they have fresh voices and bold ideas that deserve to be heard. This project proves that when we open up museums and archives to collaboration, the results are inspiring – for them and for us.”
The Young Producers’ work has been created with broad audiences in mind, especially those who may never have stepped into a museum or archive before. Their short films invite viewers to discover the city’s early filmmaking pioneers in a new light and spark conversation about how media continues to evolve.
The whole series, called Changed Lens Productions: Brighton & Hove’s Film History Told by Young Creators, is now available to watch on Brighton & Hove Museums’ YouTube channel.
