Inside the Archive #39: ‘Undocumented’ workshop and 35mm prints at BFI Southbank

On 22 July, myself and fellow film conservator Lynn Loo presented a workshop to a project called ‘Undocumented’ organised by the London Screen Archives and The New Black Film Collective. This project has been established to address the lack of Black home movies within film archives and create a space to celebrate the importance of preserving the Black experience in London, whilst highlighting the crucial role screen archives play in preserving our stories.

Our session ‘Caring for Your Personal Collection’ began with a screening of the short “home movie” Lynn and I shot at the BFI Conservation Centre. We then introduced participants to film handling, giving them some hands-on experience with 16mm and 35mm film and discussing popular amateur formats, common types of damage to look out for and the preservation techniques they could use. Lynn then spoke about the principles of projection and why archiving is important, both at home and professionally.

We brought along a range of film formats, including a much enjoyed faded Super 8 print of Coffy for the group to handle. The enthusiasm and curiosity of participants, who themselves come from a range of backgrounds within the moving image industry, made the workshop hugely rewarding.

A special thanks to Martin Coffill, Angelo Lucatello, Mike Kohler, Darren Randell and Mark Hopkins-Sherfield for being part of our film that we showed in the workshop.

- Milo Holmes, Film Conservator (BFI National Archive).

Did you know that the BFI Southbank programme regularly features 35mm prints sourced from the collections of the BFI National Archive?

In the next fortnight alone, you can experience print screenings of the classic Will Hay comedy Good Morning, Boys! (1937), Peter Sellers’ understated comedy The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973), Ridley Scott’s breakout masterpiece The Duellists (1977) and a new 35mm print of Scott’s seminal Thelma and Louise (1991).

Also, on 4 September, our long-running strand ‘Projecting the Archive’ continues with The Woman in the Hall (1947), which will be introduced by one of the film’s stars, Susan Hampshire. Ahead of the screening, learn more about the film with our latest ‘Rarities of British Cinema’ article. 

- Alex Prideaux, Marketing & Events Manager (Our Screen Heritage).

The Inside the Archive blog is supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.