bfi annual review 2001-2002

BritishFilm InstituteAnnual Review2001_2002

Contents

04 bfi Chair’s Foreword

05 bfi Chief Executive Officer’s Foreword

06 About the British Film Institute

08 Developing our film and television material

16 Helping raise standards of teaching and learning

20 Getting the best value out of what we do

British Film Institute

This is my last full year in theposition of bfi Chair. My tenure willbe completed at the end of 2002.However, I can proudly look backon a year in which much soundwork has been accomplished bythe British Film Institute.

I would particularly like to highlight the excellent work being carried out by the bfi’s National Film and TelevisionArchive to restore the Mitchell andKenyon Collection.These 800 rolls of nitrate film, which depict ordinarypeople in everyday situations, providean unparalleled social record of early20th century British life. The bfi hopesto have completed the preservation ofthis remarkable heritage by 2004/5.

It was also most gratifying to see thatwe are so highly regarded on aninternational level. In October 2001the bfi screened the 1916 silentversion of Lady Windermere’s Fan,with a new score by Nick Brown, to anear capacity audience at the LincolnCentre in New York.The screeningwas a great success and the Centre’sFilm Society felt it was one of the most enjoyable events they had everattended and would very much like towork with the bfi again.

During this financial year the bfihas also been working towardsImagineAsia, a celebration of South

Asian film, which runs from April toNovember 2002.This nationwideproject does not simply cover thefamiliar Bollywood tradition, butengages with the great diversity offilm-making from that part of theworld. Staff have been busy planningaround 300 events in collaborationwith over 60 partner organisations and venues across the UK.

The bfi is also planning to celebratethe 50th anniversary of the NationalFilm Theatre. For half a century theNFT has screened the very best rangeof films from around the globe andwelcomed some of the world’sgreatest film-makers and actorsthrough its doors. Its anniversary willbe officially marked in October 2002.

Looking to the future, the bfi’sdetermination to build a national FilmCentre, which will bring together allthe Institute’s public activities in one landmark building remainsundiminished, despite delays that areoutside our control. It will be a nationalcentre of excellence in film exhibitionand a showcase for the bfi’s film andtelevision resources, which will includean education complex, mediathéque,our library and special exhibition anddisplay areas.The Film Centre willenhance the bfi’s ability to bring anunderstanding and appreciation of filmand television culture to more people.

As my time as Chair comes to an end, I would like to thank my fellowgovernors for their staunch andsustained support as the bfi confrontschanging times.Two governors –Barry Norman and Brian Winston –departed, and two arrived – film-maker John Akomfrah and filmeducationalist Elan Closs Stephens.All have been generous with their timeand professional expertise. Mostparticularly, I have depended on thewise counsel of my Vice Chair RickSenat. My thanks too, to the bfi’s ChiefExecutive Officer, Jon Teckman andhis management team. I leaveconfident that the bfi is in safe hands.

ForewordJoan Bakewell,bfi Chair

4

British Film InstituteAnnual Review 2001_2002

5

By the end of the year, our plans for restructuring the organisationto more effectively deliver oureducation and cultural remits were in place and to support this we made a number of newappointments.

Adrian Wootton, formerly head of ourExhibition department was appointedDeputy Chief Executive Officer andArtistic Director, following DeputyDirector Richard Collins’ departure for a new post at the Open University.Adrian will assume responsibility for all the cultural activities of the Institute,including Access, Education, Library,the National Film Theatre, Festivalsand the Archive.

Ian Temple, formerly Head of CapitalProjects, was appointed Director ofDevelopment and Communications.This new department will drawtogether the inter-related activities of Capital Projects, Development,Sponsorship and CorporateCommunications, all of vitalimportance in the new outward-looking, vibrant organisation we aim to become.

We appointed Jill McLaughlin to the new post of Director of Planningand Resources, with responsibility for all our support services. Jill will beresponsible for areas such as Finance,

Planning, Human Resources, IT andEstates.

As part of our restructuring exercisewe took the opportunity to revert to the original name of our Archive basedin the J Paul Getty ConservationCentre in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire:the National Film and TelevisionArchive (NFTVA).

Restructuring entailed a great deal of management time during the year,and early indications are that it will,as was our intention, create an organisation that is more integrated,co-ordinated and will make the bfiand its products and collections moreaccessible and relevant to film andtelevision lovers everywhere.

There were so many highlights for the bfi during the year that it is difficult to single out any as moredeserving of tribute than others.

Two events that could possibly besingled out are, firstly, the openingnight film of the Regus London FilmFestival, Gosford Park. This worldpremiere was attended by not only thedirector, Robert Altman, but also bydozens of the cream of British actingtalent, who all took to the stage at theOdeon Leicester Square to receive atumultuous tribute from the audience.It was particularly fitting that the film

received its world premiere at thisoccasion, as the film was funded bythe Film Council, and went on to be abox office and critical success.

The second event worthy of note was the attendance at a GuardianInterview by Woody Allen inSeptember, followed by a previewscreening of his film,The Curse of theJade Scorpion.We were delighted to host this interview at the NationalFilm Theatre with the usuallyinterview-shy film legend whodelighted the audience with his wit,openness and insight.

Events like these take an enormousamount of organisation. I thank eachand every member of the bfi staff forall their work, patience, involvement,skill and friendship over the year. Manypeople who work at the bfi arenational – even international – expertsin their field. But I applaud the effortsand loyalty of every single one.

ForewordJon Teckman,bfi Chief Executive Officer

Lady Windermere’s Fan (1916), bfi videoMother India (1957), bfi release 2002Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), bfi release 2001

Gosford Park (2001), world premiere at RLFF © Entertainment FilmsAnnie Hall (1977), bfi release 2001

6 British Film Institute

The bfi is a unique, world-classorganisation dedicated topromoting greater understanding,appreciation and access to filmand television culture.

Established in 1933, we are partlyfunded through grant-in-aid from theFilm Council (the strategic bodyoverseeing UK film) and generate theremainder of our income through ourown activities and through donations.

We have five corporate objectives:

• To broaden access for this andfuture generations to a diversity of film and moving imagematerial;

• To develop the UK’s film andmoving image resources toachieve their full educational and learning potential;

• To raise standards in theteaching of, and learning about,film, television and the movingimage in both formal andinformal settings;

• To continuously improve thequality of services through theeffective use and enhancementof staff skills and knowledge;

• To manage services efficientlyand economically to give bestvalue to the UK taxpayer andother funders.

Our vision is to be the world’s leadingorganisation dedicated to the arts offilm and television.

To deliver our objectives we offer a range of activities and services.

We house the bfi National Film andTelevision Archive, based in the J Paul Getty Conservation CentreBerkhamsted, Hertfordshire. Here wepreserve the world’s largest collectionof film and television materialincluding over 50,000 fiction and100,000 non-fiction films dating from1894 and 250,000 televisionprogrammes.The bfi is held in highesteem world-wide for the way wepreserve, archive, restore and makeavailable material from our collectionsto audiences around the UK and,indeed, around the world.

We have over seven million images in our care including production stills,30,000 film posters, a collection ofdesigns and animation cels, and ahuge number of scripts, personalpapers and publicity campaign books.

We run the National Film Theatrewhich shows more than 1,000 titles a year and hosts a range of eventswith film-makers, critics and writers to complement screenings.The NFT,50 years old in 2002, remains one of

the world’s foremost cinematheques.A roll call of the most famous namesin the acting and film-makingprofessions have given onstageinterviews there in the GuardianInterview series.We are grateful to The Guardian for their continuingpartnership with us.

In the autumn we mount the LondonFilm Festival (in 2001, the RegusLondon Film Festival) and for twoweeks every November the filmindustry spotlight and media attentionis turned on London with the influx ofcelebrities and industry delegates tothe Festival and associated events.

We also organise the annual LondonLesbian and Gay Film Festival. TheFestival is the largest of its kind inEurope and presents films reflectinglesbian and gay experience, which arenot generally available in UK cinemas.

Our bfi London IMAX ® Cinemaattracts audiences of 350,000 a yearto see a mix of 2D, 3D and largeformat films as well as 35mm and70mm titles.The cinema allows us tohost educational events for childrenand teachers, and is also a popularcorporate hire venue.

In addition to showing large formatfilms, we also broaden access to non-

mainstream cinema by releasing films on video, DVD and in cinemas.And we publish well renowned books,magazines, research papers andeducational resources, and offerfootage and rights sales of ourtelevision and film collections.We promote life-long learning witheducational events and activities forlearners of all ages and produceresources and training for teachers.

Through the bfi National Library weprovide an authoritative source ofinformation on film and television.The Library houses 44,000 referencebooks, more than 5,000 periodicaltitles dating back to 1889, two millionnewspaper cuttings and 20,000unpublished scripts and a wide rangeof other resources in all media.

We are developing ways to make our vast resources and collectionsmore widely available through onlineremote access via our website.

We have active processes in placethroughout the organisation topromote cultural diversity anddisability issues, as well as to promoteand support initiatives for ‘hard toreach’ groups, thereby broadening ouraudiences as much as possible.

About the British Film Institute

We preserve the world’s largest collection of film and television material including over50,000 fiction and 100,000 non-fiction films – dating from 1894.

bfi National Film and Television Archive


7

8

Acquiring, preserving andshowing our film andtelevision material

The Mitchell and Kenyon CollectionAmong the most important workundertaken at the Archive during the year was the Mitchell and Kenyonproject: the 800 deteriorated earlynitrate negatives in the Mitchell andKenyon collection present a majorpreservation challenge. OurPreservation section has beensuccessfully producing new material and viewing prints of extraor-dinary quality from them. In turn, ourAccess Footage Sales section hasbeen telecining this new material tocreate video copies.

This project, in collaborationwith the University of Sheffield,formally began in October. It will fullycontextualise these actuality films andtheir place in Britain’s early filmhistory.When the preservation andresearch projects are complete in2004, we plan tours of the films, DVDreleases, publications and possiblebroadcast projects.

Meanwhile, during 2001– 2002,some of the first selections from the films were screened at theSheffield International DocumentaryFilm Festival and at the world-renowned Sacile (Pordenone) SilentFilm Festival in Italy.

Other restorationsOur National Film and TelevisionArchive’s (NFTVA) highly acclaimedrestoration of Gance’s epic Napoléonalso received a gala screening at the closing of the Sacile Film Festival.And our restoration of The Magic Boxwas premiered at the Regus LondonFilm Festival.


Developing our film and television materialand increasing people’s access to it

9

George Washington (2000), bfi release 2001bfi National Film and Television ArchiveThe Mitchell and Kenyon Collection (1900)

Throne of Blood (1957), bfi release 2002The Mitchell and Kenyon Collection (1900)The Magic Box (1951)


Archive specials at the NFTA series of programmes showcasingrare and unknown material from ourarchival collections, fully contextualisedby expert guest presenters.

April Many Lives of Sherlock Holmes: Gavin CollinsonMay Shakespeare on Silent Film: Dr Judith Buchanan June Ancient Egypt: Stacey Abbot, Simon BrownJuly Swinging Sixties: Jenny HammertonAugust Will Hay: Graham RinaldiSeptember Ultus: Judith McLarenOctober R101 Disaster: James TaylorNovember Newsreels: Luke McKernanJanuary Bad Girls of British Cinema: Bryony DixonFebruary Where Does the Music Come From: Neil BrandMarch Spice of Variety, Pathé titles: Sarah Lee

‘The NFT is a force of knowledge for anyone who cares about film’ Robert Altman

The bfi is now the only major UK source of culturalcinema on 16mm and DVD/video for the UK filmsociety market.

British Film Institute10

Bobby, Bollywood in Love exhibitionMeet Me in St. Louis (1944), bfi release 2001The Magic Box (1951)Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), bfi release 2001If…. (1968), bfi release 2002


ExhibitionsWe produced a number of exhibitionsthis year. Moving Pictures, which wenton display at the Millennium Galleriesin Sheffield, explored the experience ofcinema going and television watching;Shackleton on Screen at the bfiLondon IMAX Cinema, complementedthe giant screen film, Shackleton'sAntarctic Adventure, and a selection ofstills, posters and designs chosen bycinematographer Jack Cardiff fromthe bfi’s collection were displayed atBAFTA. Plans also began for curatinga new touring exhibition, Bollywoodin Love featuring film posters andphotography.

Reaching a wider audienceWebsitewww.bfi.org.uk registered 6,466,665page impressions overall, (increasingfrom 380,329 in April 2001 to701,101 in March 2002).

Features on the main site includeSight and Sound archive reviews since1999, the Associate Tutor’s Database,which is an online network of tutorswith expertise in moving image-related education provision andvarious sub-sites supporting filmretrospectives, new books andvideo/DVD releases on Godard,Kurosawa and Free Cinema.

We also ran a web-based competition,called Fantasy Film Festival, providingschool and college students with aunique chance to experience thechallenges of planning a film festival.

We created a major sub-site tosupport the forthcoming ImagineAsiaproject, with an events database of the hundreds of South Asian filmevents around the country.

www.rlff.com was the first bfi sub-siteto handle mass e-mail communicationto patrons with daily updates on theRegus London Film Festival includingticket availability, and late additions.It received more than one million pageimpressions.

A new catalogue of DVDs for hire was rolled out at the British Federationof Film Societies Viewing Sessions atthe NFT.The bfi is now the only majorUK source of cultural cinema on16mm and DVD/video for the UK filmsociety market.

Video and DVDMore than 1,000,000 people saw ourvideos and DVDs this year: 200,000more than the year before.

Highlights of the DVD and videoreleases were Pier Paolo Pasolini’sTrilogy:The Decameron,

The Canterbury Tales and ArabianNights (not previously available), F WMurnau’s Nosferatu, Jean Cocteau’sLa Belle et la bête, and Jean-LucGodard’s Bande à part (video only).

Other titles released included Amoresperros, Beau travail, Code Unknown,The Last Resort, Rosetta, Salo, TheWages of Fear and Time Regained.

Sales of bfi DVDs continued to grow and exceed targets, and bfivideo sales remained steady,contributing significantly to oursuccess in this area.

During the year, bfi Video Publishinglaunched its Archive Television serieswith three classics: Nigel Kneale’s The Stone Tape (1972), Ken Russell’sbiopic Delius: Song of Summer (1968),and Jonathan Miller’s Whistle and I’llCome to You (1968), all of whichattracted much critical praise and very healthy sales. More than half of the NFTVA’s collection is televisionmaterial, available to individualresearchers.

Following on from the phenomenallysuccessful release of AkiraKurosawa’s Seven Samurai andYojimbo, and in tandem with the NFT’s major Kurosawa retrospective,Rashomon, Throne of Blood,

Stray Dog and The Hidden Fortresswere released on DVD.International collaborations withCriterion in the US and ARTE in Franceenabled us to release The HiddenFortress from a high definition masterof extremely high quality, with anintroduction by George Lucas.Andworking closely with ZDF, we wereable to acquire a new master of LotteReiniger’s great classic of animationThe Adventures of Prince Achmedfor DVD and video release and sales.

11

Video and DVD releases April Lady Windermere’s Fan (Fred Paul 1916)Hindle Wakes (Maurice Elvey 1927)

May The Decameron (Pier Paolo Pasolini 1971)*June Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers –

Volumes 1 and 2The Canterbury Tales (Pier Paolo Pasolini 1972)*

July The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Lotte Reiniger 1926)*

August The Stone Tape(Peter Sasdy/Nigel Kneale 1972)*Delius: Song of Summer (Ken Russell 1968)*

September Whistle and I’ll Come to You (Jonathan Miller 1968)*Arabian Nights (Pier Paolo Pasolini 1974)*

October Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa 1950)*Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa 1957)*

November La Belle et la Bête (Jean Cocteau 1964)*Bande à part (Jean-Luc Godard

December British Transport Films:Vol 6 – Famous Friends Vol 7 – Civil Engineering 1

January Nosferatu (F W Murnau 1922)*February Sick The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan,

Supermasochist (Kirby Dick 1997)*The Films of Phil Mulloy (1991–2000)

March Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa 1949)*The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa 1958)*

* available in both DVD and video

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), bfi VideoRashomon (1950), bfi VideoStray Dog (1949), bfi VideoNosferatu (1922), bfi Video

The Godard season was a complete retrospective,never before achieved at any cinematheque.


Festivals and seasonsRegus London Film FestivalIn November, the Regus London FilmFestival hosted 363 screenings of 173features and 84 short films, togetherwith a wide range of masterclasses,Guardian Interviews, industrygatherings, seminars, lectures,education screenings and workshops.

It represented the best in worldcinema, presenting films from morethan 40 countries, placing films by some of the most renownedinternational directors alongside workfrom emerging new directors, andoffered 232 opportunities for film-makers, writers and actors tointroduce their work to both public and professional audiences.

The Festival had more than 110,000admissions, a per-event averageincrease of almost 5% on last year’sfigures and including 112 sold-outscreenings.

More than 600 film industry delegatesattended this year, a 10% increase onlast year – as did 670 internationaland UK-based press delegates.

The Opening Night film was the worldpremiere of Robert Altman’s GosfordPark. Other highlights included Iain Softley’s K-Pax, Mira Nair’s

Monsoon Wedding, David Lynch’sMulholland Drive, Pixar’s Monsters,Inc., Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room,Peter Bogdanovich’s The Cat’s Meow,and Alfonso Cuaron’s And Your Mother Too. There were alsoscreenings of Carol Reed’s The FallenIdol restored by the bfi’s National Filmand Television Archive and the re-worked Apocalypse Now Redux.

An array of international starsattended screenings, includingdirectors Barry Levinson, Larry Clark,Claude Miller, Frederick Wiseman,James Benning, Julio Medem and Todd Field and actors such asCate Blanchett,Anna Friel, NicoleKidman, Bob Hoskins, Irfan Khan,Tara Fitzgerald, Ray Winstone andAyesha Dhaker.

Highlights from the Festival toured toseven cities after the London dates,including a special education eventbased around Monsters, Inc.

The Sutherland Trophy, awardedannually by the bfi to the maker of the most original and imaginative first feature film screening at the Festival, was presented to AsifKapadia, director of The Warrior.The 4th FIPRESCI International Critics’Award went to Israeli Adrian Caetano’sBolivia.

The 6th annual Satyajit Ray Awardwas won by In The Bedroom.Our thanks to Regus plc, the EveningStandard, and all our other sponsors,media partners and sponsors in-kind.

London Lesbian and Gay Film FestivalMore than 200 films were screened at the biggest and best festival yet.Attendances were the highest ever,up by over 10% on last year,exceeding 23,500 and with 56 soldout performances, firmly establishingthe London Lesbian and Gay FilmFestival as the largest gay film event in Europe and the UK’s third largestfilm festival.

Ninety industry delegates, 112 film-makers and 50 journalists visited theFestival from countries as far afield asAustralia, Brazil, Canada, Finland,Hong Kong, India, Switzerland and the USA, as well as the UK.

The opening night film was Michael Cuesta’s debut feature L.I.E[Long Island Expressway], starringBrian Cox, and the closing night filmwas Bob Gosse’s Julie Johnson,starring Lili Taylor and Courtney Love.

Special events and screeningsincluded a retrospective of the films of Cheryl Dunye, the presentation of

rare work by the artist DavidWojnarovicz and a Script Factory eventon the television series, Tipping theVelvet, with Andrew Davies and SarahWaters.Anna Nolan presented theFilmFour Prize for Best Short Film toUS film-maker and former Channel 4 TX prizewinner Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader) for Stuck, the tale of an aged lesbian couple who questiontheir whole life together when their car hits a child.

A selection of films from the Festivaltoured to a record 39 towns and citiesacross the UK and Ireland after theLondon dates.Again, our thanks to ourmain sponsors (OutUK.com) and to allour other sponsors and media partners.

Theatrical releases We released a variety of filmstheatrically over the year, ranging from The Navigators to Meet Me in St. Louis. Alfie, Annie Halland If…. were all released thanks to the generosity of our sponsor,Accenture.

12

Theatrical Releases

Sick The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan,Super Masochist (1997), bfi Video and DVDPhil Mulloy, Extreme Animation (1991–2001),bfi Video and DVDBahar, Bollywood in Love exhibitionTwo or Three Things I Know about Her(1966), bfi release 2002


13

April Mildred Pierce May Alfie (sponsored by Accenture)June As You Like It

Top HatBande à part

July Two or Three Things I Know about HerSeptember George WashingtonOctober Annie Hall (sponsored by Accenture)November The Navigators

Meet Me in St. Louis

January Throne of Blood (plus Package1:‘Samurai and Lowlifes’ – Throne of Blood, Rashomon,Yojimbo, Drunken Angel, Stray Dog,The Bad Sleep Well )

February The Hidden Fortress (plus Package 2:‘Behind the Mask of the Samurai’ – The Hidden Fortress, Seven Samurai,Sanjuro, Ikiru, I Live in Fear,Red Beard )

March If…. (sponsored by Accenture)

Seasons at the National Film TheatreThe National Film Theatre had strongattendance figures throughout theyear, with final figures of almost226,000 admissions. One of theyear’s highlights was Woody Allentaking part in a Guardian Interviewwith the bfi’s Geoff Andrew – his firstever appearance before a payingaudience, who were allowed not only to watch an interview but to putquestions to him themselves.

Three seasons stand out as particularlypopular: Godard, Kurosawa andHerzog.The Godard season was acomplete retrospective, never beforeachieved at any cinematheque. It wasthen staged at Cinematheque Ontarioin Toronto, making use of a significantamount of our original work.Attendances for the Godard seasonreached 23,000 and the seasonsubsequently toured to 21 venuesacross the UK.

The Kurosawa season attractedaudiences of more than 24,000.Wemade 10 new English subtitled printsof Kurosawa films, including neglectedtitles like Stray Dog and Red Beard.As these are the only good subtitledprints in existence, we have had afantastic response to both UK andinternational tours of these following

the NFT season.They have been seenby UK audiences of more than32,000; they are all being released onbfi DVD/video; and we havesuccessfully sold key titles to UKtelevision.

As part of the Werner Herzog season,two titles had extended first runs:Aguirre, Wrath of God and The Enigmaof Kaspar Hauser. More than 6,000people came to see Aguirre andalmost 4,000 Kaspar Hauser,unprecedented figures for this strandof programming.An extensive tour ofthese titles (in conjunction with fourother Herzog titles) followed the NFTrun and achieved a further 3,300attendances.

In December, we screened a selectionof more than 30 films from Hollywoodlegend, Cary Grant, including a newly-restored print of Hitchcock’sNotorious.And in July, we again ranour annual festival of crime film andliterature. Highlights included aGuardian Interview with one ofAmerica’s most individual actors,Steve Buscemi, a focus on the work of both the Coen Brothers and AgathaChristie, as well as a wide range oftalks and events.

Our Cinema Services team supportedthe tour of the Human Rights Watch

Film Festival, with 61 screeningsattended by more than 1,700 people.And among a wide range of nationaltouring programmes, we supportedthe six venue tour of the contemporaryartists’ films package, ‘Threshold ofthe Frame’, in collaboration with theTate and the Arts Council of England.

The bfi London IMAX CinemaOur IMAX cinema attracted audiencesof 350,000 during the year.Thehighlight was the Royal Premiere ofShackleton’s Antarctic Adventure inthe presence of HRH the PrincessRoyal, which used original filmmaterial of Shackleton’s 1916expedition restored by our Archive.

Other films shown during the yearincluded the 3D films Encounter in the Third Dimension, Cyberworldand Into the Deep.

The spectacular films and the spaceswithin the building itself allow us to runa variety of successful educationalevents at the IMAX. For example, inMay we held an Inset Day for teachersjointly with the London Aquarium, andin September invited 300 children tohear a speaker, watch Into the Deepand then visit the Aquarium. Ourscreening of Shackleton’s AntarcticAdventure, shown as part of NationalSchools Film Week sold out in October.In November, we held teachers’

screenings of Shackleton and HauntedCastle, both of which attracted morethan 250 teachers. Later that monthrepresentatives from the BritishAntarctic Survey and the NationalMaritime Museum gave presentationsbefore a sold-out screening ofShackleton.We ran events in theschool holidays, including ananimation week in August wherechildren produced a film whichbenefited from a grant from LambethEducation Action Zone.

Broadening access to the bfi: diversity and disabilityAs part of the roll out of the bfi’s new cultural diversity strategy, wedeveloped the flagship diversity project,ImagineAsia, to be a major celebrationof films from India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and BritishAsians.A range of activities, screeningsand publications were devised, to belaunched on 25 April 2002. Sixty sevenorganisations around the UK agreed todevelop activities alongside the bfi forthis pioneering festival.

We completed our first DisabilityStrategy, with action plans, in March2002.This policy was developed withexpert consultants and gave usdirection for effectively engaging withdisabled people on a range of issuesincluding access, focused provision of activities, and staffing.

Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure,© NOVA / WBGH BostonAguirre, Wrath of God 1972Bande à part (1964), bfi release 2001

As part of the roll out of the bfi’s new culturaldiversity strategy, we developed the flagshipdiversity project, ImagineAsia, to be a majorcelebration of films from India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and British Asians.


Our Video Publishing section started toproduce DVD releases with HearingImpaired Subtitles of English languagefilms.We were the first video label toinclude subtitling of additionality –titles subtitled include Sick andGeorge Washington.

Other ways of seeing ourcollectionsFilms, television material and otheritems were made available to venuesand organisations internationally andnationally throughout the year.

The following are some selectedexamples.

We worked on a number of televisiondocumentary productions, includingITV’s ‘Some Liked it Hot’; the threepart series ‘The Empire in Colour’ (tobe screened in September 2002); andwith officials from Buckingham Palaceand Windsor Castle to supply materialfor the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

We renegotiated our TV agreements to allow wider access to ourcollections at regional archives acrossthe UK.

Working with the cable channelArtsworld, we programmed a six-week, Friday night prime slot toshowcase work from the bfi – from

the former bfi Productions Unit and of material from the NFTVA.The introductions were filmed at the NFTVA.

The fourth British Silent Film Weekendin April, held at Broadway, Nottinghamthemed the British and American filmindustries before Hollywood started todominate.This was a key event inpromoting the rare holdings of theNFTVA.

On the international level, aprogramme of 30 bfi titles relating toLondon went to the FilmhausStobergasse in Austria for a ‘Londonon Film’ season.And a programme of 34 ‘Free Cinema’ British titles weresent on a four-city tour of Spainplaying at Gijon,Valencia, Coruna andMadrid.

Five Ritwik Ghatak films: The CloudCapped Star (Meghe Daka Tara),Subarnarekha, A River Called Titus(Titas Ektir Nadir Nam), ReasonArgument & Story (Jukti Takko ArGappo) and E Flat went on tour at theSanta Fe College, the UCLA Film & TVArchive, the Pacific Film Archive, theHarvard Film Archive and theCinematheque Ontario.These are theonly subtitled prints in existence fromthis important Bengali film-maker.This tour of North America was the lastin a major international tour where the

films have played in all key territories.Back home, Nosferatu went on aseven-venue, UK tour with ‘Spotty DogFilms’ musicians playing a score to thesilent print. Meshes of the Afternoonand Un Chien andalou were part ofTate Modern’s Surrealism UnboundExhibition which ran from Septemberto January.

All 34 UCI venues participated inbooking one-day ‘Director’s Chair’slots.Titles included Don’t Look Now,Some Like It Hot, Singin’ in the Rain,Alfie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Le Méprisand Annie Hall.

And our Archive catalogued ourcollection of Indian cinema posters.A display of these, along with otheritems, entitled ‘Bollywood in Love’, willgo on tour to UK venues as part of theImagineAsia project.

DigitisationWork took place throughout the yearon digitising certain material with aview to making it more accessible and widely available.

The Archive took steps into the worldof digital technology, by commissioningconsultants to look at the cultural,operational and strategic implicationsof collecting material ‘born digital’ and setting up a ‘digilab’ to explore

the potential of digital restoration.Atechnical study was implemented toinvestigate capturing titles specificallyintended for internet broadcast (webcasting).A large collection of ourArchive video material is beingtransferred to modern digital formats.This is making significant quantities of material available for easier accessby the public.

Digital restoration experts fromGermany visited the NFTVA and gave a presentation at Kodak on the digitalrestoration of Metropolis (1926) andconducted tests in the Archive digilab.

Our off-air recording facilities weredeveloped to accommodate recordingof BBC4 from digital broadcastplatforms.

Other digital work over the yearincluded developing Screenonline,a major educational online projectfunded by an award from the NewOpportunities Fund (see page 20).

Cyberworld © 2000 IMAX Corporationbfi London IMAX Cinema The Warrior (2001), © Channel 4Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges at the RLFFCate Blanchett at the RLFF

15

Kelly Macdonald and Dame Maggie Smith at the RLFFNicole Kidman at the RLFF


Helping raise standards of teaching and learning

An Introduction to Film LanguageMonsters, Inc (2001) © Disney / Pixar


Highlights from the Regus London Film Festivaltoured to seven UK cities and included a specialeducational event based around Monsters, Inc.

Education lies at the heart of all our activities our acquisitions,restorations, screenings andpublications all play an integralpart in this remit. But we workspecifically with other educationproviders to encourage awarenessof moving image culture,regardless of people’s age or level of knowledge.

Educational publicationsWe produced a series of newpublications and an expandedcatalogue of resources which hasestablished the bfi as a moving imageresource provider for schools andcolleges, earning £70,000, up from£15,000 the previous year.

For primary schools:• Show Us a Story, a teaching guide to using a range of fiction films in theprimary school context.• Story Shorts, a video compilation ofshort films accompanied by a teachingguide, to support the National LiteracyStrategy and develop cineliteracy.

For secondary schools:• ‘Macbeth on Film’, a video compilationof extracts from three film versions ofMacbeth, accompanied by a teaching guide and photocopiablestudent sheets.• Reading Films, a teaching guide andphotocopiable student sheets to

support the moving imagerequirement of the NationalCurriculum and GCSE English.

For Film and Media Studies(post-16):• Representation, the second title inthe series of photocopiable teachingpacks on Key Concepts for Film andMedia Studies.• Film Genres, the third title in this series.• An Introduction to Film Language, aninteractive CD-ROM to teach post-16students, and teachers new to movingimage education, the grammar of film.

Teacher trainingAt the London Media StudiesConference in July we gave three daysof training to 334 media teachers.A further 107 teachers enrolled ondistance-learning courses, achieving a high level of completion.And in-service training sessions were run atmany different venues across theUnited Kingdom.Teacher trainingoverall totalled 9,205 ‘training hours’.

We mounted an inaugural A LevelMedia Studies Conference in Bradfordin October, as a northern counterpartto our long-established annualconference at the South Bank,London, and started a new distancelearning MA module, ‘Introduction toDigital Video Editing’, in January. Newweb support software was introduced

for all our distance learning courses.We were invited to carry out anevaluation of the ‘UK-wide DigitalVideo Project’ being run by the BritishEducational CommunicationsTechnology Agency (BECTA), for£10,000.And 15 Best PracticeResearch Scholarship Projects wereset up in Devon and England-wide,with a total value of £35,000.

Other educational projectsCineclubThe bfi’s Cineclub was launched inSeptember 2001 at the Ritzy Cinema,London.This initiative, aimed atteenagers, was piloted betweenSeptember and July. Teenagers agedbetween 14 to 16 viewed films andwere introduced to low-budget digitalfilm-making. In January 2002, the‘premiere’ of six films produced aspart of the Cineclub initiative with sixschools in Greenwich took place at the Ritzy. Groups of students viewedthe films and took part in onstagediscussions of their achievement.The programme is ongoing.

Reminiscence projectsIn March 2002 we received a£35,000 grant from the Adult andCommunity Learning Fund thatenabled us to continue and expandour work on cinema andreminiscence.The funding enables a two-year project to develop film

17

Education lies at the heart of all our activities:our acquisitions, restorations, screenings andpublications all play an integral part in this remit.


clubs for older people and eventswhere children can learn about theexperience of cinema-going 30 to 50years ago, directly from older people.

A travelling exhibition is planned tobring recorded memories of film clubparticipants to a wide audience.The project is based on existing workwith Age Exchange, who remain ourpartners.We are also running acomplementary project looking atBritish Asian film-going experiences in partnership with Sampad, aBirmingham-based Asian music,dance and drama organisation.

Associate Tutor Scheme The Associate Tutor Scheme is a UK-wide database of more than 30people who can provide a range ofeducational events. Quality assuranceis met through a panel of experts whoreview applications and providementoring.The Scheme broadens therange of providers available to venues.

NFT schools programmeAn important highlight of the year wasthe huge expansion in the range andquantity of events offered for schoolsat the NFT.The autumn term 2001saw a three-fold increase in events;more than 150 events were held,reaching over 18,000 attendees.Included in the regional tour ofhighlights of the Regus London Film

Festival was a special educationalevent based around Monsters, Inc.

Dramatic interpretationsOur Actors Consultancy enjoyed asuccessful year.Various shows werestaged for the Education Projects Unit,including ‘Entertaining the Nation’,‘Desperately Seeking Suffrage’,‘Literacy and Cineliteracy’ and ‘Newsfrom No Man’s Land’, making use ofarchive material, drama and debate to present moving image material in a lively and informative way.

The Consultancy also recruited andrehearsed a company of six actors tosupport the Moving Pictures touringexhibition. Important new contractswere won to provide live interpretationfor the Public Records Office andBritish Waterways, and the team alsofound time to host an internationalconference at the NFT.

ScreenonlineIn July, the New Opportunities Fundmade an award of £1.2 million to thebfi under its Digitisation of LearningMaterials programme. Screenonline,the name of the consortium of whichthe bfi is the lead partner, will build onthe expertise gained through thevarious online pilot projects which have been undertaken from 1998.Thesignificant contribution from the NewOpportunities Fund will enable us to

provide a definitive reference resourceon British film and television history onthe web, with access in UK schoolsand libraries to key film extracts.We began work on the project inOctober and anticipate launching it early in 2003.

ResearchIn March, the Youth Work Presspublished a report ‘Being Seen, BeingHeard’, a study we had undertakenwith the National Youth Agency.Thishighlighted the fact that every year,more than 17,000 children and youngpeople in the UK are involved inmaking films or videos.The researchlooked at informal sector opportunitiesfor 5–25 year olds to make movingimage productions.

Over 200 delegates attended anInternational Media Conferenceentitled ‘Global Village or GlobalImage? Representing Diversity andDifference’. Keynote speakersincluded Bell Hooks, Sorious Samuraand Mandla Langa.And finally, afunding bid to the Nuffield Foundationto explore media coverage of theBradford riots was successful.

The bfi National Library In the summer, we responded to aninvitation to tender by submitting aproposal to the Independent TelevisionCommission to take over their library.

Following a selection process in which we were competing with anumber of other major institutions,we were selected to receive the ITC’scollections.A number of factorsinfluenced the ITC’s decision,including the bfi’s focus on education,established connections with thetelevision industry and investment in new media.

The new, merged library will create an unparalleled resource for thepublic, academics and creativeindustries.

The Library's outreach initiatives tooka major step forward with the settingup of an executive group to developthe UK-wide Library and InformationPlan for Film and Television.Thisbrings together representatives fromother libraries across the UK, withsignificant collections in our subjectareas.Activities proposed include:training courses for library staff; an audit of film and televisioncollections; and a web-basedinformation source.

The year saw the first in a new seriesof Library initiatives to supportseasons at the NFT.A major display in the Stephen Street reading roombrought together a wide range ofmaterials on Jeañ Luc Godard, fromacross the Library collections.This

18


was promoted by a special flyer whichwas distributed at the NFT during thedefinitive Godard season in thesummer, and supported by abibliography, available on the website.Other displays during the year focusedon Cary Grant and Werner Herzog.

The Library broke new ground bysetting up a Writer in Residence,supported by the Royal Literary Fund.Ade Solanke was based in the LibraryReading Room, where library usersand bfi staff were able to arrangemeetings to discuss and gain valuableinsights into scriptwriting anddevelopment.As well as offering usersthis unique value-added service, thescheme enabled the Library topromote its huge collection ofscreenplays and scripts. During theresidence period, there was also asubstantial display in the Librarybringing together materials on thesubject of scriptwriting, includingexamples from the script collection.

The database of the catalogue ofunpublished scripts held in our SpecialCollections Unit was completed andmade available in the Library ReadingRoom.

PublishingSight and Sound magazineSight and Sound magazine is the moviebuff’s magazine of choice. One of the

highlights of the year, reflecting theprofound changes in the internationalfilm industry, was the digital roadshowwe put on in partnership with the FilmCouncil’s New Cinema Fund.This mix ofscreenings and heated discussionstravelled to six cities across the UK andreached a new audience of regionalfilm-makers and enthusiasts.Themagazine itself continues to publish thehighest standard of film commentary.

bfi booksThis year saw the launch of two majornew series and our first forays intopublishing concerning digital mediaand film.

bfi World Directors is a series oncontemporary film directors.The firsttitles were Youssef Chahine andJane Campion.

The Television Book project concernsfive titles overviewing televisionstudies for students in the manner ofthe bfi's Cinema Book. The first title,The Television Genre Book (edited byGlen Creeber) was our UK bestsellerfor frontlist titles. New Media titleswere led off by Experimental Cinemain the Digital Age by Malcolm Le Griceand New Screen Media (whichincluded a DVD-ROM of moving imageextracts) edited by Martin Rieser andAndrea Zapp, a collaboration withZKM in Germany.

Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers Volume I 1895–1910, bfi VideoHindle Wakes (1927), bfi VideoWhistle and I’ll Come to You (1968), bfi VideoThe Canterbury Tales (1972), bfi Video

19

Youssef Chahine, bfi PublishingCyberworld © 2000 IMAX CorporationShackleton’s Antarctic Adventure,© Nova / WABH Boston


PartnershipsSponsorshipTwo key partnerships for which wehave been particularly grateful aresponsorships by Regus Plc andAccenture. Regus are the title sponsorof the 46th London Film Festival forthe second year this year.

Our successful relationship withRegus Plc was recognised in theFT/Arts and Business Awards 2001,where it won the award for Arts,Business and Corporate Identity.

The partnership also won the HollisAward for Best Use of Brand Identityas well as the much coveted HollisSponsorship of the Year Award.Wealso took part in the 13th NationalSponsorship Conference, presenting a paper on the relationship as anexample of best practice.

The Festival as a whole generatedmore sponsorship than ever before,both from cash sponsors, in-kindsponsors and media partnerships.

Accenture’s sponsorship has enabledus to release new prints of classicfilms.We released Alfie,Annie Halland If …. during the year to popularacclaim.

CollaborationsPartnership with the Arts andHumanities Research Board-fundedCentre for British Film and TelevisionStudies produced major new researchinto our holdings.The Centre alsofunded two of our staff to takeresearch sabbaticals to look at little-known parts of our Collections.

We established a strong workingrelationship with the David LeanFoundation, who have funded aproject to catalogue Lean materialsand make these accessible via theweb. Funding has also been providedfor the restoration of Lean’s SummerMadness (1955), for which we arevery grateful.

A very successful cultural diversityinternship scheme has seen newrelationships established with Black,Asian and disabled film-makers, andthe creation of databases of contactsand possible acquisitions. Materialfrom the Lesbian and Gay Film Festivaland ‘Lifting the Lid’, a disability filmfestival, was acquired.

As part of a programme ofbenchmarking its processes againstthose in similar organisations, theNFTVA invited visitors from otherarchives and commercial laboratoriesto review the Archive’s work practicesand procedures. Speakers included

Mike Mashon and Jenni Dennis fromthe Library of Congress and Bob Gitt of UCLA. Scott MacQueen of WaltDisney spent two weeks at theConservation Centre, holding two all-staff question and answer sessionsand meetings with staff teams, as well as reviewing work in progress inour Quality Checking Theatre and anall day technical seminar at the KodakTheatre in Hemel Hempstead.

Improving our resultsWe are constantly looking for ways to improve our efficiency andeffectiveness.

For example, Sight and Soundmagazine fulfilled its remit to achieve a zero-subsidy accounting year, largelydue to an outstanding advertisingsales figure of £146,000, a five percent increase over the target figure,and ten per cent better than theprevious year.

Our Publishing Section transferred itsUS distribution from Indiana UniversityPress to the University of CaliforniaPress.This massive logistical exerciseinvolving computer systems, financeand the physical transfer of some60,000 books, was completedsuccessfully and on time.The impactof this move is expected to besignificant. Early estimates expect US

revenue to go up by 40%, alongsidemuch improved marketing and mediacoverage for the bfi.

Some 600,000 people across the UK saw bfi-released films, with ourBookings Section exceeding itsfinancial targets for the year. OurAccess Section as a whole increasedincome targets by more than£500,000. It was a bumper year for theatrical releases. Breakfast atTiffany’s grossed more than a quarter of a million pounds at the UK boxoffice.Sales overall exceeded the revenuetarget by £222,000, or 26%.

At the NFT, our attendance figureswent up, exceeding the target (despitefewer performances) followingchanges to programming strategy and scheduling.

In the Archive, as a result of a reviewof work flow through the film lab,output was increased by 50% usingthe same level of staffing. Procedureswere established to track all workorders throughout the centre.

Efficiency measuresOur IT department completed anupgrade of the bfi’s IT infrastructure,which included a completerefurbishment of core network

20

Getting the best value out of what we do

Our successful relationship with Regus Plc wasrecognised in the FT/Arts and Business Awards 2001,where it won the award for Arts, Business and Corporate Identity.

If.... (1968), bfi release 2002Bande à part (1964), bfi VideoAlfie (1966), bfi release 2001Meet Me In St. Louis (1944), bfi release 2001Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure © NOVA / WBGH Boston


21

devices, installation of a ‘server farm’running the Microsoft Windows 2000platform across the Institute, andimplementation of the Microsoft Officeand Exchange productivity andmessaging systems.This wassupported by a comprehensivetraining programme, which ensuredthat all bfi staff were familiar with thenew software systems.

We built and consulted on theprototype of the bfi IntegratedDatabase (BID) which will allow datafrom the Filmographic (SIFT) andTechnical Records (TecRec) databasesto be interrogated seamlessly. Thisdevelopment has involved significantinput from professionals in variousdisciplines throughout the bfi and hasbeen managed by the IT Unitaccording to the PRINCE 2 projectmanagement methodology, which willbecome the model for approachingsimilar projects in the future.

Improving the quality of bfi servicesThere are numerous examples of theways we are constantly working toimprove our services.An importantpart of this is enhancing our staff skillsand knowledge.

bfi staff: our most valuable assetIn April 2001 we changed the name ofour Personnel Department to the

Human Resources (HR) Department.The change in name reflected achange in the emphasis of thedepartment moving from being areactive administrative department to a more proactive departmentsupporting managers to achieve their business plan goals througheffective use of staff.

Building on the success of the 2000programme, we organised anotherround of cultural diversity internships,offering five Black and Asian people a year-long opportunity to work withinbfi departments to gain skills andknowledge of the industry. Extensiveskills training was offered as part ofthe internship, and in return the bfiacquired new contacts, knowledgeand insight from the interns.

Team Performance Managementprocesses were implemented acrossthe bfi for the first time in 2001/2.Information sessions and training for managers and staff took place to ensure everyone was able toundertake objective setting andperformance reviews at the end of thisfinancial year. This resulted in moststaff receiving Performance RelatedPay at the end of the financial yearhaving achieved their team targets.It was not a successful year for paynegotiations.The breakdown ofnegotiations led to industrial action

We are planning to create a new public building that will bring together all the Institute’s activities intoone exciting new centre. It will be a national centrefor excellence in film exhibition and a showcase forour collection of film and television resources.


being taken by Amicus-MSF inJanuary.This consisted of a workto rule and half day strikes on twomornings.Action was suspended in February and settled at ACAS at which agreement was reached on a pay settlement for 2002/3 as well as 2001/02.

We sent out our annual staff opinionsurvey in September.The responserate was around 43%, with 202surveys returned.We were verypleased to note that overallsatisfaction in the bfi as a place towork had increased to 82% in2001/2. It was 66% in the previousyear.The results of the survey, ofcourse, showed the opportunity forimprovement in a range of areas,especially pay, and these will beaddressed.

Towards the end of the year the HRDepartment was heavily involved insupporting the consultation andimplementation processes following a proposed reorganisation of the bfistructure. Interviews were held for theDeputy Director post and two newposts of Director of Development andCommunications and Director ofPlanning and Resources.The changesassociated with this restructure willcontinue into the new financial year.

Other improvements to our services We are planning to create a newpublic building that will bring togetherall the Institute’s activities into oneexciting new centre. It will be anational centre for excellence in filmexhibition and a showcase for ourcollection of film and televisionresources.Also planned there, are aneducation complex, mediatheque, ourLibrary and display areas.We haveselected David Chipperfield Architectsto design the building and its preciselocation is under discussion as part ofthe South Bank masterplan deliberations.

To meet the growing worldwidedemand for films on DVD, our FilmSales Section seconded its Film Sales Coordinator to create bestquality DVD masters for our PeterGreenaway collection.The projectshould be finished in time for 2002, for second quarter 2003release in major territories.

August 2001 saw the launch of ourPublishing Section’s ‘21 years’ tradepromotion, which received editorialcoverage in the publishing journal theBookseller and included anenlightening ‘best film books’ poll.The winner was the bfi’s Cinema Book(edited by Pam Cook).

October 2001’s issue of Positif,the prominent French cinephilemagazine contained an article on film publishing in the UK whichidentified the British Film Institute as the pre-eminent publisher in thefield.The feature included in-depthinterviews with Publishing staff Rob White and Andrew Lockett.

A number of quality-related exercisestook place in the NFTVA over the yearunder the auspices of the HeritageLottery Fund project, ‘An Archive forthe 21st Century’. In December wecompleted an analysis of our currentwork processes at the NFTVA andhave begun using these results to helpshape future practices andprocedures.

This resulted in greatly increasedoutput. Staff continue to processbacklogs of film and video materials in the Archive, identify their content,check their condition, and cataloguethe contents.As part of the project we developed a prototype barcodingsystem.

We conducted a customer satisfactionsurvey of all users to our Donor Accessservice.The survey ran from October toJanuary and we got a 45% responserate, which accurately reflected theservices user demographics. One

hundred per cent of responses ratedthe service as either excellent or good (69% said ‘excellent’). This is a positive perception of access toour Archive.

And finally, as one further example of improving our service, our StillsSection successfully piloted an ISDN service for stills sales: userfeedback was extremely positive and the service is now being rolled out to all customers.

22

bfi National Film and Television ArchivePakeezah, Bollywood in Love exhibitionMedia and Meaning: An Introduction,bfi PublishingDo the Right Thing, bfi PublishingRegus London Film Festival (RLFF), 2001© Nova / WABH BostonSeven Samurai, bfi PublishingThe Television Genre Book, bfi Publishing


23

bfi annual review 2001-2002

Documents