The UK’s Independent Cinema Office (ICO) is kicking off a new screening event for UK exhibitors to focus on archive film.

The Archive Screening Day, to be held Dec 4 at BFI Southbank, is funded through the BFI Audience Fund.

The Unlocking Film Heritage project, backed by £5m ($7.8m) of Lottery Funding, means that 10,000 films from the UK’s national and regional film archives will be digitized in the next three years. Now the ICO will help exhibitors to get such films to audiences. 

The Archive Screening Day will also include workshops and discussions. Guest speakers will include composer Carl Davis and Italian festival producer Guy Borlée.    

Films to be screened including special compilations from the BFI National Archive:

  • The Wonderful World of Colour
  • A Time Travellers Guide to China
  • The Phantom Carriage (with a new score)
  • This is Now: Film and Video After Punk 
  • London at Christmas
  • A preview of the three-year, UK-wide project coordinated by the BFI about the people and places of the UK.

Catharine Des Forges, director of the ICO said: “We are absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to extend the success of Screening Days to include a stand-alone event on archive film. It’s a great chance for exhibitors to have a dialogue with curators and archivists, and an opportunity to discover potential collaboration projects.”

Robin Baker, the BFI’s lead curator added: “This is a fantastic, innovative event that will bring exhibitors and curators together to share ideas and develop future collaborations. It’s exactly what we need to help ensure that audiences across the UK get to see their film heritage on the big screen in the most exciting and compelling ways.”

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