The BFI National Archive at 90
As the British Film Institute National Archive marks its 90th year, join Heidi Shakespeare in conversation with Kieron Webb, Head of Conservation, to explore how the organisation is safeguarding the nation’s screen heritage while preparing for the future of film and television.
This 20-minute discussion will chart the BFI National Archive’s journey from its pioneering preservation work to today’s world of digital access and streaming, including how contemporary works are being archived for generations to come. Highlights will include this year’s Film on Film Festival, featuring screenings of the original 1977 Technicolor print of Star Wars, alongside recent BFI projects such as the restoration of one of the earliest Silent screen adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and the addition of the surviving Victorian 68mm Biograph films to UNESCO’s International Memory of the World Register preserved in the collections of Eye Filmmuseum (Amsterdam), BFI National Archive, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (Paris).
The conversation will also spotlight how the BFI is nurturing future archivists through training initiatives, the launch of a world-first moving image conservation research lab, and how the archive’s technology infrastructure encompasses a century of innovation, discussing the challenges and opportunities that will define the next decade of innovation at one of the world’s leading archives.
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