‘London – A Bigger Picture’ aims to engage local communities in the capital, to inspire interest and ownership in their local screen heritage. The project will specifically work with groups who would not typically watch heritage film and also those whose stories are not well represented in London’s current moving image collections.

The HLF award for £27,300 will enable Film London to carry out the initial development phase. This will involve a pilot project with young people in Barking and Dagenham and 20 targeted sessions with various ethnic and community groups. Film London will also run a major region-wide consultation with archives, libraries, museums, cinemas, festivals, community groups and all groups interested in – or potentially interested in – the history of London on film. This will inform both the development of ‘A Bigger Picture’ and a new heritage film strategy for London to ensure that institutions and audiences receive the maximum benefit from the project.

The development phase also enables Film London to apply for a full HLF grant of £500,000 at a later date to deliver ‘London – A Bigger Picture’ in 15 outer boroughs, between 2013 and 2016. If successful, activities will include recreating a hugely popular initiative of the 1930s, the ‘Kino Van’, which would tour shopping areas, festivals and schools to screen local footage and offer expert assessment of home movies. Local communities will be encouraged to fill the many gaps in London’s current screen heritage collections, in order to build up a more comprehensive picture of life in their borough and preserve precious records of London’s past.

Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London, said: “This is a very exciting project which not only has the potential to further enrich London’s screen heritage but also to engage Londoners from a wide range of communities and ages in their moving histories. I am delighted ‘London – A Bigger Picture’ will see more Londoners appreciating the cultural and emotional value of London’s archive film. I am also very grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund in allowing us to build on the great work Film London and London’s Screen Archives have achieved in the last two years, through successful projects such as the Screen Heritage UK programme and launching the LSA website.”

Sue Bowers, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for London, said: “We are delighted to give our initial support for this worthwhile project which aims to reach out to many London boroughs with an innovative project exploring the history of the moving image. We look forward to receiving a full application in the future.”

Dr Cathy Ross, Chair of London’s Screen Archives, said: “London’s Screen Archives is thrilled that the Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting the development of ‘London – A Bigger Picture’. We are looking forward to engaging with communities in the outer boroughs, to ensure that everyone can play a part in discovering London’s local moving image heritage and become as excited about it as we are.”

Supported by Film London, London’s Screen Archives (LSA) is a network of over 100 public collections with moving image materials and acts as the virtual ‘regional film archive’ for London. In 2010-2012, with funding from the Screen Heritage UK programme, a partnership between the BFI, Screen Yorkshire and the English regional film archives, LSA worked with 75 collections across a range of projects to preserve, digitise, and catalogue their film and video, and to disseminate best practice and practical skills to the non-film-specialists who care for these collections. In September 2011, LSA launched the London Union Catalogue of Moving Image, allowing records from more than 60 collections to be searched online as an aggregated catalogue.

Notes to editors

About Film London
Film London, as the capital’s film and media agency, aims to ensure London has a thriving film sector that enriches the city’s businesses and its people. The agency works with all the screen industries to sustain, promote and develop London as a major international production and film cultural capital, and it supports the development of the city’s new and emerging film-making talent. Film London is funded by the Mayor of London, the National Lottery through the BFI, and receives significant support from Arts Council England and Creative Skillset.

Film London also manages the British Film Commission through a public/private partnership which is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through the BFI. 

About London’s Screen Archives
London’s Screen Archives (LSA) is a virtual film archive for London. It is a network of organisations that work together on the same mission: to bring screen heritage alive for London.

London is home to some of the country's leading national and specialist moving image archives and a vast range of museums, archives, libraries, educational institutions, community and special focus organisations which hold film and video material as part of their broader collections. These organisations collaborate on projects and share information to create a ‘virtual’ regional collection of moving image material made in and about the capital.

Further information

Please contact Colette Geraghty on 020 7613 7680 / 07917 437 699 / colette.geraghty@filmlondon.org.uk.