The Beyond Babel Multilingual Film Festival

This article discusses the potential of the Beyond Babel Film Festival, sponsored by the Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), as a space of mediation that bridge communities and university constituencies and challenge the mono-linguistic perception of film and culture. Looking at this film festival as an example of a cultural event led by a higher education institution, the article focuses on the connections between creative cities and universities and the programming and curation goals and processes. Critical reflection on the development and the educational strand of the festival lead to argue that the paradigm shift to a more community-oriented model of film festivals benefits all parts involved, that ultimately results in the sustainability of the festival itself.