PoetryFilm invited to attend the ICO Archive Screening Day at the BFI, Thursday 4 December

PoetryFilm has been invited to be a delegate at the Archive Screening Day event at the BFI Southbank organised by the ICO (Independent Cinema Office). Designed for independent exhibitors, this will be an industry screenings event showcasing films from the UK’s national and regional film archives – extremely rich resources.

The Archive Screening Day sessions are outlined below and the archive film programmes will be posted here separately.

Guy Borlée, Coordinator of Il Cinema Ritrovato

Il Cinema Ritrovato, the international film festival held annually in Bologna, is dedicated to the rediscovery of rare and little-known films with a particular focus on silent film. The festival utilises films from the Cineteca di Bologna Film Archive, which contains over 40,000 films drawn from the entire history of the moving image. In addition to his work on the Festival, Guy organises Il Cinema Ritrovato touring programmes throughout Italy and since 1994-5, has also programmed Sotto le Stelle del Cinema(open-air screenings of film classics in the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna), curated thematic programmes and retrospectives at Bologna’s Cinema Lumière, and collaborated on several pan-European projects dedicated to film restoration and staff training. He has written extensively on cinema and has participated in international film festivals including Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

Carl Davis

Internationally renowned composer Carl Davis will be attending to talk about the historic partnership between Charlie Chaplin and Mutual Film Corporation. This partnership has its centenary in 2016 – in all, Chaplin made twelve films with Mutual including The Immigrant – and this presentation will also include film clips. Davis’ 1980 score for Abel Gance’s Napoleon triggered an extraordinary revival in silent film, and his oeuvre of more than fifty scores for the medium, including Flesh and the Devil, Ben-Hur, The Thief of Bagdad, Greed, Intolerance, Safety Last and The General, has brought him lasting acclaim.

Working with musicians and archive film

A session on film and music with special guests including accompanist Stephen Horne, Alex Hogg from the Minima ensemble, and Hannah Partington, Project Manager of the BFI silent feature film restoration The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands.  Covering everything from engaging a pianist to commissioning a score and all the practical questions in between, this will give a fascinating insight into working with musicians.

Archive programming sessions

A beginner’s guide to programming archive film, a session covering costs, rights, materials and technical specifications for those keen to start offering archive films in their programmes. There’ll also be opportunities for one-to-ones with archivists and curators.

Click here to view our film programme for the event, including a selection of newly digitised treasures and non-fiction films exploring the richness and diversity of the UK’s archive collections.