EXHIBITING THE UK’S HIDDEN MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVES – A BFI FAN SCREEN HERITAGE RESOURCE

Since the formation of the BFI Film Audience Network, FAN Members have demonstrated a new confidence in working with collections to deliver ambitious screenings and events across the four nations to a wide range of audiences. The aim of Hidden Archives is to give FAN members inspiration and practical guidance in developing audiences for screen heritage, through working with the many rich and fascinating archives that exist across the UK, outside the National and Regional Film Archives..

The resource was created through research by Andy Robson, the BFI FAN Champion, in partnership with Film Hub NI, using funds from the National Lottery - we hope it will prove a useful tool and guide for exhibitors and archives alike.

Hidden Archives maps and compiles a list of film archives and moving image collections for the attention of cinemas and other exhibitors to support and enhance future screen heritage collaborations. The aim of this resource is to contribute to the BFI’s Screen Culture 2033 Lottery objectives by highlighting those collections that reflect the diversity of the UK, might be less well known and / or have a particular focus on specific communities, histories and experiences which are generally underrepresented in the UK’s screen heritage.

This resource serves as a first-time user guide for programmers beginning screen heritage activity and also as a reminder for experienced programmers to rekindle previous screening partnerships or to discover new ones.

The UK’s Hidden Moving Image Archives exists as a live resource that will be updated as more collections are identified.  We are very keen for FAN members to alert us to any archives or collections that they may know of in order to ensure the widest possible range of inspirations for future work, so please contact Film Hub NI with information. In particular, collections from across the UK that are not placed within any of the Regional Film Archives and reflect elements of the UK’s diverse history. Please contact Film Hub NI for more info: [email protected]

Download Exhibiting the UK’s Hidden Moving Image Archives here.

A webinar to discuss the resource and how to use it was held on September 8th with Andy Robson, Michael Pattison (Alchemy Film & Arts) and Dr Ed Webb-Ingall (London Community Video Archive). They discussed the new resource and Michael and Ed gave us invaluable insights into the process of developing archives in the community.

You can listen back to the webinar here.

As Screen Heritage FAN Champion area for BFI FAN (2023-2026), Film Hub NI supports the FAN membership to programme screen heritage in creative, relevant and engaging ways for audiences UK-wide and will collaborate with FAN members to create new audience facing resources in the future.

Thanks to Andy Robson, FAN Screen Heritage Champion, Jeffers & Sons for their brilliant design work and all the many archives who contributed to the creation of this resource.