Dear British Film Institute,

I am writing to ask:

1. What proportion of the film material you hold in your archives is not available for viewing? For example, you hold a copy of "Heaven Is round the Corner", a 1943 film made by British National Films (BFI identifier 32007). It is listed in your Collections database as "35mm Dupe Negative - Nitrate - Combined - 8984 Feet - Stock date: 1943 - - C-637202 and "Master - Restricted access to preserved film". The film has never been released on any home media, and has not been shown in the UK since the 1950s. Therefore, the only known copy of this film resides with the BFI, but it is not available to view by members of the public and researchers.

2. What plans do you have to make such preserved films available for viewing?

Yours faithfully,

Mr T Morgan

Dear Sian,

Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you. Incidentally, I made a mistake in my original request, as the film I referred to dates from 1944, not 1943.

Yours sincerely,

Mr T Morgan

Dear BFI,

Although there is no legal obligation to reply to my request, I believe you should normally have responded by 24 November 2022. This deadline has now passed. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Mr T Morgan

Dear Sian,

Thank you for the update. I look forward to hearing from you with the information requested.

Yours sincerely,

Mr T Morgan

For the information of What Do They Know and the site’s users, my previous correspondence with the BFI is copied below. It was submitted via their webform for FOI requests.

Submitted on Thursday, February 10, 2022 - 13:46 Submission number: 188124

Enquiry:

Name: [FULL NAME REDACTED]
Email: [email address]
Message: I would like to know how many, and what proportion, of the films held by the BFI National Archive are currently in a condition that is "not viewable" by members of the public? For example, the film "Heaven is Round the Corner" (1944) is held on nitrate by the BFI. It hasn't been shown on TV in the UK since 1957, nor commercially released. I believe the BFI's film material for it is unviewable, however. So what is the plan for preserving these films, so that they are available for researchers and film enthusiasts to watch? I first enquired about this film with a BFI curator in 2015, and nothing seems to have changed since then. She still says it's unviewable.

-----Email reply-----

Subject: RE: Website contact: [FULL NAME REDACTED] on Thursday, February 10, 2022 - 13:46
From: [email address]
Date: 11 February 2022 at 12:11

Dear [NAME REDACTED],

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. We will respond as soon as we are able.

Regards,

BFI Freedom of Information Team

-----Email reply-----

Subject: Ref: 2021-049 - BFI FOI enquiry regarding the BFI Archive

On Wed, 9 Mar 2022 at 17:57, foi <[email address]> wrote:

Dear Mr Morgan

Thank you for your information request and apologies for my delayed response as I was waiting to hear back from the team responsible.

The proportion of the BFI National Archive available to view is guided by our responsibility to ensure the long-term preservation of the collection. In accordance with the rules of the Federation of International Film Archives (FIAF), all moving image materials in the collection are assigned a status - most commonly 'Viewing' or 'Master' status - which enables us to develop the appropriate conservation plan to prioritise each element's preservation.

We are constantly balancing our preservation responsibilities against our ambition to make the collection as accessible as possible.

Materials with 'Viewing' status can be made available through cinema bookings or research access. 'Master' film materials will include pre-print materials and negatives, which are not viewable in themselves but are part of the moving image production process. Many pre-print elements exist on separate sound and picture elements that need to be combined before they can be watched.

Our 'Master' elements will also consist of the only surviving elements of a film or may be on hazardous nitrate film stock. In these cases the materials should only be run through projectors or on a bench by expert archivists to ensure that they do not sustain any damage. Nitrate presents many additional challenges: from shrinkage due to age meaning that it won't run through a projector or on a Steenbeck to its inherent flammability which means that elements can't be accessed by the public. Ensuring that no damage is sustained to master materials means that they are in the best condition for restoration and digitisation now and in the future.

In the case of HEAVEN IS ROUND THE CORNER (1944) we hold 3 elements - as far as we know, the only surviving elements:

- a negative on nitrate stock

- a picture element on acetate stock

- a sound element on acetate stock

Each element has been attributed 'Master' status through a combination of the reasons stated above, namely the fragility of the Nitrate element and the separation of picture and sound in the others.

The BFI has an extensive and ongoing programme of film digitisation with over 5000 films now freely available to watch on BFI Player here. Necessarily, digitisation is expensive (especially when dealing with fragile, older elements) and our programme is limited by the resources we have available. We select titles for digitisation on the basis of where we can tell the strongest stories to the widest audiences.

Our website pages offer more information on how to access material held in the BFI National Archive: Help with access to moving image collections

While we are unable to provide personal copies of our holdings, you can search the BFI National Archive holdings on the BFI Collections Information Database and the BFI YouTube channel includes highlights from the BFI National Archive, exclusive access to the BFI London Film Festival, previews and interviews with the world's greatest filmmakers, plus the latest trailers and more. Also, the BFI Mediatheques are places to make new film discoveries and get reacquainted with old favourites, free of charge. Details can be found here.

Regards,

Sian

BFI Freedom of Information Team

Dear British Film Institute,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of British Film Institute's handling of my FOI request 'Viewability of film archive materials'.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the information you pointed me towards does not, in fact, answer my request.

Therefore I would appreciate it if you would review this decision.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/v...

Yours faithfully,

Mr T Morgan

Dear BFI FOI,

Thank you for your reply. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Mr T Morgan

Dear BFI foi,

As this request is long overdue, can you please confirm that you have received my request and tell me when you are going to respond? I understand it is the holiday period, so I would expect to hear back in the new year.

Yours sincerely,

Mr T Morgan

Dear Sian,

Thank you for your reply. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Mr T Morgan