BFI National Archive - Heritage Open Day

 

The BFI National Archive in Berkhamsted have an open day once a year and you have to book early for tickets. On Sunday we made our way to The John Paul Getty Jr Conservation Centre on the outskirts of the  town. We were given this map to find our way around.

We were just in time for a tour of the Film Vault. We had not been able to reserve a place but were first in line for a standby and we were lucky to join the group. Our guide was very informative about the storage of films (180,000) and tv programmes. And how most are stored in optimum conditions at the Master Film Store in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

There were other displays on the ground floor including this old printer.

I found this plaque dedicated to the founder.

There is much more to see upstairs where we first found seats for a short talk and video about the centre. 

However, the highlight for me was the large room for Film Inspection and Conservation. 

We were able to have a long chat with one of the restorers who painstakingly inspects old footage  frame by frame and repairs any faults. 

It helped that we got onto talking about foreign films that we both see at The Rex cinema. There were others that gave us more information about their work there. Here is Angelo from parkrun who had previously told us about the BFI's  Sight and Sound magazine.

We were there for two hours and the time went so quickly. The archive also has a collection of filmmakers papers, stills, posters (many were beautifully framed on the walls, I looked at them all) designs, scripts, books and other material. At the end of the tour, a young lady told us about BFI Replay where all libraries in Buckinghamshire have access to to this free-to-access digital archive. Video, tv programmes and pictures are available to us all. I will have to study what is there before I go.

Outside there was tea and cake and we found a table that we shared and chatted with other visitors. A memorable day.