Shows
These are some of the film-based shows that I have organised and taken to a number of venues. All of them use films taken from the BFI National Archive.
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
On 22 June 1897 a procession through London marked the sixtieth anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria. The event was filmed by several motion picture cameramen postioned along the route, a number of whose films survive. This show combines films, commentary, live music and readings by actors from eye-witness testimony of the procession, including Kier Hardie, Mark Twain, Edward Burne-Jones, Beatrice Webb and Queen Victoria herself.
There is a flyer describing the show here (PDF, 253KB).
Screenings
Canterbury Festival (October 2007)
British Silent Cinema Festival, Nottingham (April 2006)
National Film Theatre, London (April 1998)
Museum of the Moving Image, London (June 1997)
The World in 1900
The World in 1900 presents a tour around the world in motion pictures at the end of the nineteenth century and the close of the Victorian era. Presented as if it were a programme compiled in January 1901, at the time of Queen Victoria's death, The World in 1900 takes us on a journey in films all dating from before the Queen's death, from London, across the Channel into Europe, across the Mediterranean to Palestine, then down Africa to the Anglo-Boer War, across the Indian Ocean to India, Singapore and the Far East, crossing down to Australia, then back up to China in time for the Boxer Rebellion, over the Pacific to Canada, thence to the Edison studio at West Orange, New York, down to Cuba for the Spanish-American War, over the Atlantic to Ireland, then back to Britain to catch a flavour of the Modern Age to come. The show was co-devised and presented with Frank Gray and Neil Brand (piano).
There is a full programme description with all film titles used here (PDF, 346KB)
The text of a talk on the rationale behind the show is here (PDF, 72KB)
Screenings
St Mary in the Castle Arts Centre, Hastings (March 2003)
National Film Theatre, London (January 2003)
Dundee Contemporary Arts (December 2001)
Edinburgh Film House (December 2001)
Cambridge Arts Picture House (February 2001)
Museum of the Moving Image (London Film Festival) (November 2000)
Giornate del Cinema Muto, Sacile, Italy (October 2000)
Brighton Festival (May 2000)
British Silent Cinema Festival, Nottingham (April 2000)
The Olympic Games on Film
2008 sees the centenary of the first London Olympic Games and the fiftieth anniversary of the second. To mark these anniversaries, and with 2012 in mind, I am developing a show which tells the history of the early modern Olympic Games through their films, as well as looking at 1948 and maybe later developments. The first version of this show, with Neil Brand on piano, covered the Games from 1900 to 1924, and other versions will follow.
Screenings
British Silent Cinema Festival, Nottingham (April 2008)
Cambridge Film Festival (September 2008)
BFI South Bank, London (September 2008)
Taking to the Air: Early Film and Early Flight
This show was devised with Stephen Herbert to mark the centenary of man-powered flight in 2003, by tracing the association between early film and early flight. The show combines commentary, film, photographs, computer animations, and model aircraft to trace the shared history of the two phenomena which had such a huge influence on modern life, and whose twin histories share many remarkable points of interest.
An essay I wrote for a German exhibition catalogue on the centenary of flight which covers the themes of the show can be downloaded here (PDF, 67KB).
Screenings
Giornate del Cinema Muto, Sacile, Italy (October 2003)
British Silent Cinema Festival, Nottingham (April 2003)
National Film Theatre, London (December 2002)
The Newsreel Story
This show brings together complete issues of British newsreels from the 1910s to the 1950s, tracing the history of thie once popular and now sadly neglected medium from the silent era through to its heyday in the British cinema of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The show includes complete issues of Topical Budget, Gaumont-British News, British Paramount News, Pathé News and several others, mixing notable stories with the run-of-the-mill. I have also devised a complementary show on newsreel cameramen, Men Who Film the World for You.
Screenings
University of East Anglia (December 2001)
National Film Theatre, London (Men Who Film the World for You) (November 2001)
National Film Theatre, London (November 2000)
Goodbye to all That
Goodbye to all That is an attempt to show a portrait of Britain just before the First World War through film, demonstrating what it is that the archive film record can portray that we cannot get from any other medium. The show was co-devised and presented with Frank Gray and Neil Brand, and formed the centrepiece of the 2004 British Silent Cinema Conference which concentrated on the theme of British film and the First World War.
There is a flyer describing the show here (PDF, 113KB).
Screenings
British Silent Cinema Festival, Nottingham (April 2004)
James Joyce's Cinema
One of the odder facts in early film history is that the author James Joyce became the manager of Ireland's first cinema. Joyce served briefly as manager of the Volta Cinematograph, located on Dublin's St Mary's Street, from December 1909. Although his association with the cinema was brief, there is growing academic interest in the films that were shown at the Volta during his tenure, and what possible associations there might be with his literary output. This show brings together a number of the short films known to have been shown at the Volta while Joyce was there. It is complemented by an essay I have written on the subject for the Irish journal Film and Film Culture (vol. 3, 2004).
Screenings
Irish Film Centre, Dublin (July 2004)
National Film Theatre, London (June 1995)
The Wilson, Keppel and Betty Story
Jack Wilson, Joe Keppel and their various Bettys formed one of the most popular of all British variety acts, with their celebrated sand dance routine. When I worked at the National Film and Television Archive, the film of their acts was one of the items most requested by researchers. Intrigued by the history, I brought together all of the films I could find of the act (from 1932 to 1950), researched an outline history, and put together a light-hearted show which has proved very popular.
A version of the text for this talk can be downloaded here (PDF, 164KB).
Screenings
National Film Theatre, London (August 2004)
Broadway cinema, Nottingham (June 2000)
National Film Theatre, London (April 2000)
National Film Theatre, London (October 1998)
Museum of the Moving Image, London (May 1998)
For other talks and shows I've given, see Talks.
