Swansea University’s department of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology have launched a new venture where students collaborated with members of the local community and professional filmmakers to produce a series of short films on the ancient world.

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The films were showcased in the Taliesin Theatre on Singleton Campus on Monday, 13 May.

Funded by a grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), The Ancient World on Film was a new project that seeks to communicate the research of the department’s academics to new audiences.

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A team of students, filmmakers and the local community produced a series of short films exploring a range of different subjects, including Ancient Egypt, Alexander the Great, Pompeii and Coins.

The films also work to tackle the significant issues that motivate the research of the department’s academic staff, such as how we can we use modern scientific equipment to understand ancient objects.

The partnership has enabled students to build close relationships with staff and develop their employability skills, including managing a large budget and developing professional relationships with a range of individuals and organisations.

Dr Stephen Harrison, joint project lead, said:

“Too often historians are asked to tell the story of what happened in the past. We are really pleased as just how well our talented students worked with the filmmakers to find innovative ways to go beyond this and explore ideas and problems rather than facts.”

First-year student Emily Williams, an avid filmmaker, said:

“The project has allowed me to fulfil a lifelong dream of creating an innovative and thought-provoking short contemporary documentary which will both educate and intrigue young minds into pursuing careers and hobbies relating to antiquity.”