London's Screen Archives Conference

We’re delighted to announce the 2024 London’s Screen Archives conference will take place at London Museum Docklands this November, with artist filmmaker John Akomfrah delivering a keynote fireside chat with Film London CEO Adrian Wootton.

The conference will be centred around ‘Undocumented’, an LSA project which seeks to address the gaps in representation in our film archives in London, delivered in partnership with The New Black Film Collective and supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery Funding.

Curated for those in the archive sector, museums and heritage, artists, filmmakers and students interested in heritage, the programme will include panels and presentations on the themes of Black home movies, community engagement, decolonising archives, and creative use of archive material. See programme below, more speakers to be announced soon.

Tickets include a vegetarian/vegan lunch and refreshments throughout the day. LSA members receive a 50% discount and students receive a 75% discount on the general admission price. LSA Champion Members are eligible for free tickets, please contact screenheritage@filmlondon.org.uk for more information on how to claim your free ticket. We want to make this event as accessible to all as possible so if you need any financial assistance to attend this event please contact screenheritage@filmlondon.org.uk. 

LSA Conference Schedule

09:30 Arrivals – Welcome refreshments

10:00 - 10:20 Welcome and Introductions: Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London, Daniel Battsek, Chair of Film London and Jean-François Manicom, Senior Curator, London Museum Docklands

10:20 - 11:20 Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London in conversation with artist filmmaker John Akomfrah (Handsworth Songs (1986), Unfinished Conversation (2012), Vertigo Sea (2015), Listening All Night to the Rain (2024).

11:20 - 11:45 Networking/coffee break

11:45 - 12:30 Panel 1: Cultural sensitivity and film archives: Presentation, cataloguing, terminology, content warnings, safeguarding and community collaboration (45 mins)

Host: Arike Oke, Executive Director, Knowledge, Learning and Collections, BFI

Panel:

• Shivaya Prasad, Development Officer, North West Film Archive
• Brónagh McAtasney, Access and Outreach Officer, Northern Ireland Screen
• Harlynn Homan, Senior Archivist, Black Cultural Archives

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch

13:30 - 14:30 Panel 2: Reinterpretation and storytelling: How to create powerful new narratives using film archive material (1 hour)

Host: Rachel Wang, Co-Founder, Chocolate Films

Panel:

• Dr Mykaell Riley, a Senior Lecturer, Director for The Black Music Research Unit (BMRU) and Principal Investigator for Bass Culture Research at the University of Westminster and Co-curator of Beyond the Baseline at British Library
• Yv Shells & Hannah Oliver, Filmmakers, Co-directors of ‘Done In Spite of You’ exhibited at Beyond The Baseline at the British Library
• Delphine Lievens, a freelancer in UK independent film distribution and exhibition, T A P E Collective 

14:30 - 15:00 Networking/coffee break

15:00 - 16:00 Panel 3: Where are all the Black home movies: Why is there a lack of Black home movies in our UK film archives and how do we build trust with communities? (1 hour)

Host: Dr June Givanni, Film Curator and Founder of June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive 

Panel:

• Dr Etienne Joseph, Archives Manager, Hackney Archives & Director, Decolonising the Archive
• Gary Collins, Chairman O.G.Y.G (Older Generation, Younger Generation), Sir Collins Collection
• Tamera Heron, Community Outreach, Undocumented Project, London’s Screen Archives
• Rai Terry, Community Engagement and Outreach, The Southside Home Movie Project, Chicago

16:00 - 16:30 Closing Remarks: Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London