Star Wars in Technicolor
In our latest Inside the Archive video we go far, far away – all the way back to 1977 – to examine the original IB Technicolor dye-transfer print of Star Wars (Dir. George Lucas, 1977), that will be opening the BFI Film on Film Festival 2025.
Held in the BFI National Archive’s collections, join Kieron Webb (Head of Conservation) and James Bell (Curator of Fiction, BFI National Archive Programme Director, Film on Film Festival), as they explore the history of this precious object, and examine other unique items related to the film’s production.
– Alex Prideaux, Marketing & Events Manager (Our Screen Heritage)
BFI Research Showcase
Last week, many of us had the pleasure of attending the first BFI Research Showcase event. This was an opportunity for PhD students working on Collaborative Doctoral Awards with the BFI and those working on AHRC projects to present their research relating to the BFI National Archive.
The showcase began with Joss Morfitt, PhD Researcher at Durham University, who shared his work on examining the BFI’s legacy of Queer Film programming where he discussed ‘Images of Homosexuality’, the first lesbian and gay film season in the UK at the BFI in 1977. Concluding that this was a space where the BFI challenged sexual norms and gave queer people a space that recognised and celebrated them, even if the representation of the time didn’t reflect these views.
Elizabeth Simpson, PhD Researcher at Southampton University, spoke about their research uncovering the neglected contributions of migrant filmmakers on the development of British film during the 1940s- 1970s. Elizabeth shared methodologies and challenges of finding absences in archives to try and tell new stories, and issues with finding filmmakers due to misspelling and Anglicisation of names.
We then heard from Bryony Dixon, Curator of Silent Film at the British Film Institute, who presented on the AHRC funded project Museum of Dreamworlds: Silent Antiquity Films in the BFI National Archive working with University College London and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She explained the importance of classics in early film as these subjects were often used to make films a respectable and intellectually interesting art form to attract a clientele that would attract more investment.
Dr Jessica Boyall, Postdoctoral Research Associate, represented Women’s Screen Work in the Archives Made Visible, an AHRC funded project led by the University of Exeter in partnership with the BFI, the universities of Swansea and Southampton, and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. The project looks at women’s contribution to film which is often invisible and aims to make women’s screen work more discoverable by investigating women in various roles in the film industry. Jessica explained that she has begun cataloguing the papers of director Gurinder Chadha at the BFI National Archive as part of the project.
Next, Holly Antrum, PhD Researcher at Kingston University, took us through her work where she uses speculative fiction as she becomes ‘Markéta’. Born in Brno, Czech Republic in 1976, ‘Markéta’ is looking for her country’s history in the archive while having an interest in the papers of filmmaker Peter Wollen, held at the BFI National Archive. Alex Habgood, PhD Researcher at University College London, presented on the use and reuse of Videogame Archives in the UK. The presentation highlighted the importance of archiving videogames, their cultural significance and discussions around who the repository is trying to serve and whether video games are art forms.
Finally, Dr Claire Smith, Senior Curator of Screencraft at the British Film Institute, presented Film Costumes in Action – an AHRC funded project with the University of Bristol, the BFI and the University of Leeds which aims to raise the profile and appreciation of British led costume design. This explored themes of hidden people in the industry and using interviews with costume designer Sally Turner, whose collection is held at the BFI National Archive, we were taken on the costume journey to understand the trust, care and emotional and physical labour that goes into creating costume.
A big thank you to Dr Barry Dixon and Dr Ania Ostrowska for organising the showcase and to all the incredible presenters who took the time to share their work with us. It was fascinating to see how differently the collections at the BFI National Archive can be used for such a variety of interesting and unique research projects
– Kay Eldridge, Assistant Curator Special Collections
The Inside the Archive blog is supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.
