Norwich Heritage, Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART) is using a collaboration of Norwich business and education to bring its Digital Heritage Project to life.

Norwich University College of the Arts' ideas factory and Queens Road digital agency Soak will team up for the web design and development work needed to showcase archive films from East Anglia and Upper Normandy.

The Digital Heritage Project is bringing the archive alive by working with two major film archives from both sides of the channel, the East Anglian Film Archive and Rouen-based, P�le Image Haute-Normandie.

The main objectives are to research and select for digitisation films from as far back as 1896 and to showcase the East Anglian and French films, which will launch as a showcase next year.

Jane Jarvis, Digital Heritage Project manager, said: 'It is a fantastic bonus to have the additional resources of students and academics from NUCA involved in the project.

'We are delighted to be working in partnership with both teams and we look forward to encouraging additional collaboration by offering students the opportunity to play an important role in the development of this project.'

While Ed Walker, business director at NUCA, added: 'NUCA are delighted to be partnering Soak to provide HEART with an innovative and engaging website, so that people can interact with archive film of our region and of Upper Normandy.

'Through our commercial venture, ideas factory @NUCA, academics and students will work with Soak to create design concepts for the look and feel of the site.

'Young people consume digital video online every day, so the challenge will be creating a site, which works not just for young people, but also for a much wider audience. It is a very exciting opportunity.'

Between now and the launch of the website there will be a programme of events and screenings planned locally, see www.heritagecity.org for more information.