British cinema at BFI Southbank
Dear British Film Institute,
Further to my previous request (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...), I would like to ask what the proportion of the films/titles screened at the BFI Southbank in the last 10 years were of British origin (country: UK)?
By this, I am referring to every screening shown at BFI Southbank as a Venue, including the BFI London Film Festival and BFI Flare screenings.
I am looking for the data by calendar year (1 January to 31 December), not the period as a whole, for the ten years up to and including 2022: so for each year from 2013 to 2022, with both the raw numbers and percentages please.
Yours faithfully,
Mr T Morgan
Dear Theo,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 28th July 2023 which I acknowledge.
We will respond as soon as we are able.
Regards,
Sian
Hi Sian,
Thank you. I look forward to hearing back in due course.
Yours sincerely,
Mr T Morgan
Dear Theo,
Thank you for your enquiry dated 28th July 2023.
We have consulted with our programme planning team regarding the information requested. They have informed us that the information you request spans across two databases one of which we only have partial access to as it is no longer used. Prior to August 2014 we do not hold the information you request so any information we could provide would only begin from August 2014.
Also, as previously stated in the information provided regarding June 2022-June 2023 (FOI ref: 2324-013) that on our current database it is not possible to run a report which would provide this information at an individual screening level so we are unable to provide this breakdown as this is not information we hold. Therefore we would, as previously, only be able to supply our best version of UK titles as a percentage of titles shown rather than screenings.
However, this is a very small team who are currently waiting to recruit the team member who runs the reports you're requesting, and they have informed me they do not have the capacity to research this request at present. The would therefore request that you resubmit it, taking account of the above, in November as they believe they will have more capacity to look at this then.
To be clear, we will do our best to provide the information requested when you resubmit but do not have the capacity to process the request at present.
Regards,
Sian
BFI Freedom of information Team
Hi Sian,
Thank you for your reply. If I wanted to calculate the data myself for the period not covered by the databases, would the only way be to use the original programme guides for 2013-14? They usually have an index of titles, for which each one could be checked to ascertain the country. That said, perhaps the database also covers unscheduled additions to the programme, which would not appear in the printed guide?
I understand that as before, you can only provide the proportion of titles shown, rather than proportion of screenings.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Mr T Morgan
Hi Sian,
I have marked this request status as “British Film Institute did not have the information requested.” The alternative would be to say it was refused, which is not quite true. I understand that you do have most of the information, but cannot provide it at the moment.
Yours sincerely,
Mr T Morgan
Hi Theo,
Thanks for this and I'm sure you've already put in your diary to resubmit in November.
I'll ask the team about your question about trying to work this out from the guides yourself but as you say they do not include changes and additions which come from the programme updates.
Regards,
Sian
Hi Sian,
I will submit this FOI request again in November as advised. If it can be done earlier, do please let me know. Thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Mr T Morgan
Hi Sian,
Thanks. Are you able to check with the team how one might extract this data from the pre-2014 era, if it was desired? The programme guides are in the Reuben Library, but I wonder if the programme changes are archived anywhere accessible.
Yours sincerely,
Mr T Morgan
Dear Theo,
Thank you for your email. I've just checked with the team and they've confirmed that there hasn't been an archive for programme updates so these aren't held in the library or anywhere else online.
The team have now started saving these in light of your query but this only began in August of this year.
Regards,
Sian
Hi Sian,
Thank you. I assume that the database going back to 2014 is not just based on the programme guides, and would incorporate changes to scheduled screenings?
Therefore, using solely the programme guides to find out information on my request for the pre-2014 period would not be fully accurate?
I am glad to hear that programme changes are now being archived.
Yours sincerely,
Mr T Morgan
Hi Theo,
Yes that's correct - using the Guides for pre 2014 would not be fully accurate as it wouldn't account for any programme updates/corrections or additions which weren't in the guide.
For post 2014, again, I'll check with the team, but my understanding is that the databases should involve individual titles but we would not be able to provide information at a screening level. However, I'm sure we'll be able to confirm this when you submit your request.
Regards,
Sian
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