The Project

In March 2020, life in the North West changed overnight.  The arrival of COVID-19 in the region saw the indefinite closure of workplaces and businesses and brought lockdowns, social distancing, the ‘clap for carers’, online quizzes and home schooling into our lives.

The North West Film Archive set about trying to locate and preserve people’s moving image footage of these unprecedented and worrying times, and so launched the #lockdownlife project – an appeal for digital video footage reflecting local people’s experiences of a global pandemic.

From empty city centre streets and supermarket shelves, to home-made music videos and the ‘Superheroes of Sale’, we had a fantastic response to the initial appeal, with over 20 collections of video files passed over to the Archive for preservation. 

The Search Continues

But we still need YOUR help – if you have any video of life at home or work from this time, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re especially interested in the experiences of key workers, and in footage depicting the later stages of lockdown – holidays at home, Christmas and New Year celebrations, or simply your daily routines.

How to send videos

It’s easy to send your lockdown life files to the North West Film Archive - you can send them straight to us here, or via a file transfer service such as WeTransfer or Dropbox to n.w.filmarchive@mmu.ac.uk.  Once we’ve got your files, one of our team will be in touch.

Get in touch

Receiving film from a member of the public at Manchester Central Library

Get in touch

We look forward to hearing from you.