New BFI Mediatheque collections
Cathy Come Home courtesy of BBC
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New and exciting films and TV programmes have been added to the BFI Mediatheque at Discovery Museum – a digital jukebox of film and TV based within the Archives. For fans of filmmaker Ken Loach, make sure to look out for the Which Side Are You On? A Ken Loach Retrospective, which will be added in September. Simply pop in, log on and watch for free!
August
With 2011 marking the 90th anniversary of Dirk Bogarde’s birth, this new collection looks at the mercurial actor and writer’s relationship with the small screen, drama and documentary included. Bogarde can be seen in conversation at the NFT in 1983, while his literary talents are on show courtesy of his adaptation of Graham Greene’s May We Borrow Your Husband? and the feature-length TV version of his novel Voices in the Garden.
Why not try?
Bogarde’s starring role in sci-fi drama The Vision (1988), unseen since its first broadcast; or the major two-part BBC Arena documentary The Private Dirk Bogarde (2001).
September-October
Which Side Are You On? A Ken Loach Retrospective
This major new addition to the Mediatheque’s collections marks celebrated filmmaker Ken Loach’s 75th birthday with a near-comprehensive retrospective of his hard-hitting work in film and television since the 1960s. Launching across two months, Which Side Are You On? begins in September with Loach’s TV credits, from his early work at the BBC directing episodes of Z Cars and The Wednesday Play through to 70s mini-series Days of Hope and the provocative non-fiction output of the 80s and 90s. This is followed in October by a survey of his big-screen filmmaking, with a raft of complete features and shorts to explore. Whether you’re new to Loach or a long-standing admirer of his work, this collection of over 50 titles - encompassing the familiar and the rarely seen - offers unparalleled access to one of British cinema’s most outspoken iconoclasts.
Why not try?
Don’t miss groundbreaking TV play Cathy Come Home (1966), which fuelled the homelessness debate; The Gamekeeper (1980) follows a turbulent year-in-the-life of a former Sheffield steelworker; Carol White falls for Terence Stamp’s charismatic crook in Loach’s debut feature Poor Cow (1967); join the fight for Irish independence in controversial Palme d’Or winner The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006).