A day in the life of the BFI National Archive

Go behind the scenes at the BFI National Archive’s Conservation Centre, where we preserve and restore the nation’s film collection, as we celebrate Twitter’s first ever #MuseumWeek.

24 March 2014

Photochemical film printing with Chris Stenner, Wet Lab Operations Specialist © Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith

The BFI National Archive holds a magnificent collection of film and television, from the birth of cinema to today. Concentrating on British titles, we carefully select material for our collections, preserving, restoring and interpreting it to ensure our film heritage is widely accessible in cinemas and in the home. We also collect posters, images, publicity material, original scripts, letters and other artefacts.

With Twitter celebrating its first ever #MuseumWeek from 24-30 March, bringing together on social media hundreds of museums and archives across Europe, we go behind the scenes at our J. Paul Getty Jr Conservation Centre in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. It’s here that our collections are housed, preserved and restored to keep the films alive for new audiences.

Video conservation and migration of obsolete videotape formats, with Will Daniel, Video Conservation Specialist
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Comparing multiple elements of film during restoration process with Claire West, Examination Conservation Specialist
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Preparing film prints for projection with Teresa Burke, Acquisition and Access Conservation Specialist
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Inspecting film with Angelo Lucatello, Acqusitions and Access Conservation Specialist
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Inspecting film with Angelo Lucatello, Acqusitions and Access Conservation Specialist
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Inspecting film with Ian Betts, Acqusitions and Access Conservation Specialist
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Conservation Specialist undertaking film inspection and repair
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Accessing the BFI’s film print collection from vault storage, with Scott Starck, Production Manager
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
The film vault at the BFI’s Conservation Centre, with Kat Bishop, Assistant Facilities Manager
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
BFI pressbooks collection
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Conservation Centre storage of Special Collections, with Carolyne Bevan, Curator - Scripts, Documents & Ephemera
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
BFI posters collection
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Film prints heading for cinema projection, with Martin Sheffield, Acquisition and Access Conservation Specialist
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
Examples of film tinting and toning
© Adam Bronkhorst, Kevin Meredith
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