British Film Institute receive £45 million Government investment

I just saw the announcement on BBC News that the British Film Institute's National Film Centre have received confirmation of £45 million investment from the Government. The BFI have confirmed that they can now go ahead with plans for a new National Film Centre on London's Southbank. They plan to "create a world-leading centre for the study, enjoyment and celebration of film and television." I have only seen or read about a tiny percentage of the archives at the BFI and even from that it is obvious what a wonderful resource for scholars, film enthusiasts and the general public they are, so it is very good news indeed to hear that the Government is giving them, and our moving image heritage, the recognition and support it needs and deserves. The announcement is available to view on the website of the Department for Culture, Media and Support.

This is all very timely given that the 27 October is UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage!

Designs on Delivery: GPO Posters from 1930 to 1960

The Archives Hub website is providing online access to a new exhibition of posters from the British Postal Museum and Archive, 'Designs on Delivery: GPO Posters from 1930 to 1960'. The exhibition is a joint project from the University of the Arts London Archive and Special Collections Centre and the British Postal Museum and Archive. It includes some very striking posters from the British Postal Museum and Archive and related items from the University of the Arts Archive. John Grierson's film Night Mail (1936) is also being shown on loop at the University of the Arts.

Pat Keely (died 1970) Night Mail, 1939 © Royal Mail Group Ltd
courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive

The images I've included from the exhibition perfectly illustrate the point made about the exhibition in the promotional material - 'the General Post Office was at the cutting edge of poster design and mass communication'. The image which I think is the most striking is the poster by Pat Keeley from 1939, Night Mail. I've included a few more images from the exhibition but I recommend going to the Archives Hub website to view it online, or even better, if you're in London, go and visit the exhibition at the University of the Arts at the London College of Communication.

Harold Sandys(HS)Williamson(1892-1978) Loading mails at the docks in London, 1934 © Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive

John Armstrong (1893-1973) Mail Coach A.D. 1784 , 1935 © Royal Mail Group Ltd
courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive

Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954) Air Mail Routes, around 1937 © Royal Mail Group Ltd
courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive

The John Grierson Archive here at Stirling University includes material on his career at the GPO Film Unit. Grierson established the film unit at the GPO which went on to produce a series of acclaimed films including Coal Face , Night Mail , Song of Ceylon and North Sea . Filmmakers and artists who worked at the unit included important figures such as Humphrey Jennings, Alberto Cavalcanti, W H Auden and Benjamin Britten.

Still from Night Mail, John Grierson, 1936 © John Grierson Archive, University of Stirling

N.B. I don't think I made it clear in the original post that Night Mail was produced by John Grierson, but was actually directed by Harry Watt and Basil Wright.

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

If.... screening at the Branchage Film Festival

Contact strip from If...., LA/1/6/4/1

On Friday 2 October there was a screening of If.... as part of the Branchage Film Festival on the island of Jersey. Now I have to admit I hadn't heard of the festival before but looking at the line-up I'm surprised I haven't as it sounds like it would have been great - a really diverse selection of films, special events and music - definitely one to mark in the calendar! The screening of If....was in a college with added atmosphere created by a very stern headmaster ordering everyone to their seats.

There is a short interview with David Wood, who played Johnny in If.... and Paul Cotgrove, from the Lindsay Anderson Memorial Foundation, which is on the Branchage film festival blog. In the interview David Wood (now an OBE and highly respected children's dramatist) discusses filming If.... He brings out the tie he wore in the film, which he has kept since shooting finished, 41 years ago! What really grabbed mt attention though is that he is holding in his hand a copy of the dummy script of the film which I have heard about but have never seen. The dummy script was the one which was used to placate the headmaster and authorities of Cheltenham College, as they doubted they would have been allowed to film there had the headmaster known the conclusion of the film!

Contact strip from If...., LA/1/6/4/1

Discovery of Spain - British Artists and Collectors: Goya to Picasso

I finally made it through to Edinburgh to see the 'Goya to Picasso' exhibition. It's been on since July and it takes me till the last day of the exhibition, in October, to make it through but hey, at least I made it. It was definitely worth the wait, though I actually wish I'd gone sooner as I could definitely have done with more than one visit to take it all in.

There was so much to see that I'm just going to mention a few things that really stood out for me. Velázquez's 'An Old Woman Cooking Eggs' was stunning, having seen it in books and on postcards it was completely different to see it in real life. The details, colouring and shadows are all amazing and I could have looked at it for ages, but I didn't get there till about 3.30 and I knew I didn't have all that long till it closed so I moved on. I think my favourite artist, whom I didn't already know a lot about, was Arthur Melville, a Scottish painter who worked with and was an influence upon, The Glasgow Boys. I can't name a favourite of his as I loved them all, though there are two that particularly stick in my mind , 'The little bullfight 'Brave Toro!'' and 'The Contrabandistas' (1892). 'The little bullfight 'Brave Toro'!' is filled with bright colours expressively indicating people and movement, the dust swirls around the bull in the ring, and the overall effect of movement and energy is wonderful. 'The Contrabandistas' is such an unusual work, the figures are in the centre of the composition but are small and seem overwhelmed by the swirl of trees and hills around them and the vast expanse of sky above.

Arthur Melville, The Little Bull Fight, "Bravo Toro!", late 19th Century

©Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The other artist I discovered who I hadn't heard of before was John Frederick Lewis. There were a large number of his works in this exhibition but the ones that really impacted on me were his drawings of buildings and street scenes, the colours are muted and give the impression of the heat of the Andalusian sun, the detail is wonderful and the angles and viewpoint are often unusual. The only one I can remember the name of isn't one of these though, it's a wonderful vibrant painting 'Spanish Fiesta' (1836). I realised I must have heard his name before though as he features in one of the best books I've read in the past few years 'The Map of Love' by Ahdaf Soueif. Reviewing an exhibition 'The Lure of the East' at the Tate Britain in 2008 Soueif says of his paintings
"I find Lewis's work so attractive that it became a source of sustenance for the heroine, Lady Anna Winterbourne, of my novel The Map of Love: recently widowed, Anna visits the South Kensington museum and takes pleasure in "the wondrous colours, the tranquillity, the contentment with which [Lewis's paintings] are infused"... Lewis's truth, expressed in colour and brushstrokes, was a truth about the spirit of the place."
Ahdaf Soueif, Visions of the harem, The Guardian, 05/07/09

There were a number of versions of Picasso's 'Weeping Woman', which have a tremendous force and emotional intensity about them. Knowing more about the events surrounding their creation, after a visit to Malaga and the Picasso Museum earlier this year, I found seeing these again incredibly moving.

I am now looking forward to visiting the National Gallery in London to see 'The Sacred made Real'. This exhibition looks at work religious art works created in Spain in the 17th century, and includes the work of at least two of the artist in 'From Goya to Picasso' - Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Zurbaran. For the first time these painting are going to be shown alongside polychrome sculptures from the same period.