1800 films and TV programmes available for free
The BFI’s hugely popular Mediatheque is launching at Newcastle’s Discovery Museum this month, meaning that visitors can now view more than 1,800 films and television programmes from the BFI National Archive, free of charge.
The Mediatheque is a digital jukebox of film and television programmes from the BFI’s unparalleled collections. With 85% of its content unavailable to view anywhere else, new content is added regularly and there are now over 1,800 titles available to browse and view – ranging from the lesser known and newly rediscovered through to well-loved classics. This fascinating treasure trove of moving image will be open to any visitor at the Discovery Museum; from students, researchers, local historians, children and families, pensioners and any fan of film and TV in the area.
To mark the opening of this important cultural resource, the BFI has collaborated with the Northern Region Film and Television Archive to create a unique new collection of films and TV programmes about the North East. North by North East includes football matches featuring the region’s teams from the early 1900s, historic records of events including the Bamburgh Fete, the Durham Miners’ Gala and much more.
Liz Rees, chief archivist, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, explains: “The BFI Mediatheque includes feature films, documentaries, TV programmes, artists’ film and video and home movies stretching from the earliest days of cinema to the present. Classics from British film and TV - including Brief Encounter, The Wicker Man, Monty Python and the Play for Today series - sit alongside a wealth of historically important and rarely seen films which reflect life in Britain over more than a century.
“All this and more is available for anyone to view free of charge at Discovery Museum.”
BFI Director Amanda Nevill says: “Film provides such a tantalising view of how the people of Britain lived, worked and played over the past century or more. The public has a real appetite to see more and it is the job of the BFI to look after the national collection of archive film and television and make it more widely and easily available to everyone, regardless of where they live.
“We always said when we opened our first Mediatheque at BFI Southbank in London that our aim was to replicate it in every nation and region of the UK and we are several steps closer to achieving that aim now. This is our fourth Mediatheque outside London, giving more people across the UK the chance to experience and enjoy unprecedented access to their national film and television heritage.
“We are really thrilled to be part of the Discovery Museum and to be able to offer more people the chance to enjoy the fantastic collections we look after in the BFI National Archive.”
Newcastle-born writer Lee Hall (Billy Ellliott, The Pitmen Painters), said, “The mediatheque is one of the greatest things the BFI have ever done.
Putting so much of the world's greatest archive at your fingertips AND doing it for free is simply amazing… You can then watch your pick of thousands and thousands of hours worth of amazing footage. Home movies of Jesmond Dene in the 1920s, full length feature films, cult TV shows from the 60s and 70s and much, much more besides…It's got a brilliant selection of film material about the North East and I defy anyone browsing through this material not to be amazed and moved by seeing how our region has changed… I can't recommend a visit highly enough. It's about the most fun you can have by yourself for free.”
The BFI Mediatheque will be open seven days a week and visitors can drop in or book a time slot in person or by calling (0191) 277 2248. Visitors can watch as many titles as they like and around 85% of the content of the BFI Mediatheque is unavailable on DVD or online.
As well as material from the North East, there are also more than 50 specially curated collections on a wide range of themes, including a celebration of British fashion; incredibly rare home movies filmed in India and Tibet; children’s films and TV programmes; and a century of Jewish representation on British screens. The BFI Mediatheque also allows viewers to search for specific items of interest. New material is added regularly.
The opening of the new Mediatheque coincides with Long Live Film: Celebrating 75 Years of the BFI National Archive, a two-month celebration of the world's most significant archive of the moving image.