Wednesday wonders - BFI Southbank

I have always loved visiting the Southbank when I was visiting London and that hasn't changed any since I moved here.  I remember the first time I got the bus back over Waterloo Bridge at night time after work, I saw all the lights along the river and got such a thrill, and I still feel that, sometimes I still have to pinch myself that I'm living in London!  So I thought as my Wednesday wonder this week I would pay tribute to one of my favourite places on the Southbank, the British Film Institute! Now technically of course one of my favourites parts of the BFI, the Library and Archive, isn't on Southbank at all but on Stephen Street.  However the last time I went down to the Southbank there was a great display on the upstairs corridor of 'Recent acquisitions at the BFI National Archive'

The exhibition showed archive material (they call it Special Collections to differentiate it from the Film Archive) from a number of people including Karel Reisz (film director) and Ralph Cooper (a publicist).
The first photo includes a scrapbook on Merle Oberon compiled by Deborah Kerr and telegrams from Sophia Loren!  In the second photo are letters from Rachel Roberts and an annotated script for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.  I was very excited by the Karel Reisz material as I'd heard they got his archive whilst I was working in the Lindsay Anderson Archive.  Anderson and Reisz were friends and were both part of the Free Cinema movement so there was a good deal of material by and about Reisz and I always find it exciting to see material from other archives about individuals or organisations I've worked on!

Both the bars in the BFI are great, though I have noticed the Benugo Bar staff can be pretty rude - this is balanced out though by the friendly waiting staff, the good drinks and bar snacks, and the lovely surroundings!

And then, there's the exhibition room.. I've been to so many great exhibitions in the exhibition room - most memorable perhaps was the Jane and Louise Wilson 'Unfolding the Aryan Papers' which I blogged about here. There's been rumours that this is where the Library and Archive will be moving too but I really hope that's not true, for a number of reasons.  Firstly it's great having an exhibition space at the Southbank site and I'd miss it if it went but FAR more importantly, it's a tiny site compared to the current library which would mean staffing cuts (though from the sounds of it these are unfortunately inevitable) and I just can't imagine there's enough space there for all the wonderful resources in Stephen Street.

The BFI Southbank is also home to the fabulous Mediatheque - where you can go to watch a huge selection of films and television shows, for free! I still have to go in to watch Blue Black Permanent - Margaret Tait's only feature film, hmm maybe something to do this weekend if the rain keeps up!

So if anyone is in London this weekend and wondering what to do? You couldn't go wrong with a visit to the BFI.

Running Time: Artist Films in Scotland 1960 to now

I'm very excited about a new exhibition running at the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh from 17 October - 22nd November of this year. This is the first time the National Galleries have devoted an exhibition exclusively to film, and according to their website, the first ever exhibition in Scotland devoted exclusively to artist films in Scotland. It's a huge retrospective, and as well as the extensive range of films being shown there are a number of special events and screenings to coincide with it.

I don't think I could pick particular films I'm looking forward to see as there's so many, including work by Margaret Tait, David Hall, Henry Coombes, Beagles and Ramsay, Matt Hulse, Luke Fowler, Katy Dove, Rosalind Nashashibi and David Shrigley. Here's a link to the full programme as I find the National Galleries website to be very badly designed, difficult to navigate and not always very clear on which gallery events take place in.

Particular special events that caught my attention are:
The Bedfords (2009) by Henry Coombes (recently on exhibit at the Sorcha Dallas gallery in Glasgow, 4 September - 9 October). The film tells the story of Sir Edwin Landseer and his relationship with the Duchess of Bedford. The screening will be followed by an 'in conversation' between Henry Coombes and Francis McKee, Director of the CCA, Glasgow. This event is free and is on Wednesday 21 October at the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre - Weston Link (national Gallery Complex) from 6.30 - 7.30pm

Boyle Family Films - Sebastian Boyle. Mark Boyle and Joan Hills of Boyle Family were pioneers of British projections with events such as Son et Lumière for Insects, Reptiles and Water Creatures and Bodily Fluids and Functions and their liquid light shows of the 1960s. Sebastian Boyle of Boyle Family, will talk about these films, putting them into the wider context of their work. A selection of these films will be on show at the Dean Gallery as part of Running Time. This event is free and is on Tuesday, 27th October 2009 at the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre - Weston Link (national Gallery Complex) fro 12.45 - 1.45pm

Pilgrimage from Scattered Points by Luke Fowler. Screening of Luke Fowler's fresh take on documentary realism, Pilgrimage from Scattered Points, followed by an 'in conversation' with the artist. This event is free and is on Tuesday, 3rd November 2009 at the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre - Weston Link (national Gallery Complex) from 6.30 - 7.45pm

Margaret Tait: Poet, Filmmaker, Beachcomber Artist. Dr Sarah Neely, Lecturer in Film, Media and Journalism at the University of Stirling, explores the work and practice of Margaret Tait, a filmmaker whose approach is largely characterised by an intimate relationship with the immediate surroundings. A truly independent filmmaker, Tait established her own film company and self-financed most of her productions. As with much of Tait's creative work, whether using found footage from a skip or found objects from the beach, Tait's resourcefulness forms a striking feature. This event is free and is on Tuesday, 17th November 2009 at the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre - Weston Link (national Gallery Complex) from 12.45 - 1.30pm