BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films.
It is operated by the British Film Institute. Forbes called its largest cinema, NFT1, "one of the crown jewels of the London film scene". [1]
The National Film Theatre was initially opened in a temporary building (the Telecinema) at the Festival of Britain in 1951 and moved to its present location in 1957, replacing the Thameside restaurant on the site. It opened for the first BFI London Film Festival on 16 October 1957. [2] Later, the Southbank Centre expanded its buildings to meet the National Film Theatre from the south, while the National Theatre occupies the area to the northeast. A second screen was added on 21 September 1970. [3]
In 1988, a new building was constructed for the Museum of the Moving Image between the National Film Theatre and Belvedere Road. Designed by Avery Associates Architects, it was built under the Waterloo Bridge approach and expanded during construction into a former subterranean car park. [4] It remained separate from the National Film Theatre, with separate entrances. The museum was closed in 1999.
On 14 March 2007, the National Film Theatre was relaunched as BFI Southbank in considerably enlarged premises, taking over space that had been used by the museum. The enlargement works were due to start in the summer of 2005, but were delaying owing to funding problems. [5] When it reopened, in addition to the three pre-existing cinemas, the complex included a new small cinema (the studio), a médiathèque, a contemporary art gallery dedicated to the moving image (the BFI Gallery), a shop, and a bar and restaurant run by Benugo. [6] [7]
The cinema also serves as the main venue of the BFI Flare LGBTIQ+ Film Festival. [8] [9]
In 2023, Forbes called its largest cinema, NFT1, "one of the crown jewels of the London film scene". [1]
BFI Southbank is sited below the southern end of Waterloo Bridge, forming part of the cultural complex on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. The site comprises three cinemas and studio space, as well as cafes and exhibition space. It also has a large bar area in the foyer where smaller performances are sometimes held.
The National Film Theatre was designed by Norman Engleback, an architect within London County Council. [10]
In 2022 the architects behind the redevelopment of the Southbank promenade entrance received London and National awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects for their design, which includes a "grand canopy of cast fibreglass" which "glows boldly like a cinema screen". [11]
The BFI Southbank is the only cinema in the United Kingdom that is licenced to publicly screen Nitrate film. [12]
The National Science and Media Museum, located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum Group in the UK. The museum has seven floors of galleries with permanent exhibitions focusing on photography, television, animation, videogaming, the Internet and the scientific principles behind light and colour. It also hosts temporary exhibitions and maintains a collection of 3.5 million pieces in its research facility.
The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England.
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, distribution, and education. It is sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and partially funded under the British Film Institute Act 1949.
The BFI IMAX is an IMAX cinema in the South Bank district of London, just north of Waterloo station. It is owned and operated by the British Film Institute. From 2012 until 2022, it was operated by Odeon Cinemas.
The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten.
onedotzero is a contemporary digital arts organisation based in London that aims to promote new work in moving image and motion arts. The organisation conducts public events, artist and content development, publishing projects, education, production, creative direction, and related visual art consultancy services.
The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) was a museum of the history of cinema technology and media sited below Waterloo Bridge in London. It was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles and at the time, was the world's largest museum devoted entirely to cinema and television. The museum formed part of the cultural complex on the South Bank of the River Thames. MOMI was mainly funded by private subscription and operated by the British Film Institute. MOMI was closed in 1999, initially on a supposedly temporary basis, and with the intention of its being relocated to Jubilee Gardens nearby. Its permanent closure was announced in 2002.
BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), is the biggest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe. It takes place every spring in London, England. Organised and run by the British Film Institute, all BFI Flare screenings take place in the BFI Southbank.
Jane Wilson and Louise WilsonRA Elect are British artists who work together as a sibling duo. Jane and Louise Wilson's art work is based in video, film and photography. They are YBA artists who were nominated for the Turner Prize in 1999.
The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. The festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 feature films and 150 short films from more than 70 countries are screened at the festival each year.
Patrick Keiller is a British film-maker, writer and lecturer.
Jesse Leslie Hardcastle OBE was a British arts administrator who was controller of the British Film Institute's (BFI) National Film Theatre (NFT) complex on London's South Bank from its early beginnings through to his retirement in the mid 1990s.
The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the National Film Archive, and, in 1992, the National Film and Television Archive. It was renamed BFI National Archive in 2006.
Sir John Akomfrah is a Ghanaian-born British artist, writer, film director, screenwriter, theorist and curator of Ghanaian descent, whose "commitment to a radicalism both of politics and of cinematic form finds expression in all his films".
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are British artists and filmmakers.
Mark Lewis is a Canadian artist, best known for his film installations. He represented Canada at the 2009 Venice Biennale.
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the National Theatre and BFI Southbank repertory cinema. Following a rebranding of the South Bank Centre to Southbank Centre in early 2007, the Hayward Gallery was known as the Hayward until early 2011.
James Scott is a British filmmaker, painter, draughtsman and printmaker.
The BFI Gallery was the British Film Institute's contemporary art gallery dedicated to artists' moving image housed within BFI Southbank, the BFI's flagship venue in London, previously known as the National Film Theatre.
The Afterlight is a 2021 British experimental supercut art film directed and assembled by Charlie Shackleton.
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