Introduction:
This section lists organisations housing moving images and/or paper-based materials which are essential sources for research. These are ordered by the name of the collecting organisation and against each is an indication as to whether or not materials held are immediately available online or must be accessed by in-person visits to the organisation in question. Wherever possible, entries include contact details for enquiries.
Links to many national archives around the world may be found here https://www.fiafnet.org/pages/Community/Affiliates.html, while a number of U.K. archives are members of Film Archives U.K. and are listed here: http://www.filmarchives.org.uk/join/members.
We are always looking for expansion of this page, so if you have any additions please scroll down to the form below where you can log any new items that would be appropriate to the page.
Amateur Movie Database, University of Calgary, Canada
https://www.amateurcinema.org/
https://www.amateurcinema.org/index.php/womeninfocus
The Women in Focus database of filmmakers represents the work of UK and Irish amateur filmmakers who worked with 8mm, Super 8 and 16mm film from the 1930s to the 1970s. Filmmakers are profiled and individual film records include synopses, film format, location of film, and year of production. The films and filmmakers represent some of the women whose work was researched as part of the Women in Focus project, funded by UKRI-AHRC and the Irish Research Council under the ‘UK-Ireland Collaboration in the Digital Humanities Research Grants (grant numbers AH/W001756/1 and IRC/ W001756/1). The Amateur Movie Database hosts individual films and collections by amateur filmmakers from around the world.
Contact for Access:
amdb@ucalgary.ca
British Film Institute, 21 Stephen Street, London W1T 1LN, United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 20 7255 1444.
The BFI is the parent body encompassing, among other departments, the BFI National Archive, BFI Distribution Library, and the BFI Reuben Library at BFI Southbank, all essential to our research.
BFI National Archive holds a wide selection of film and television materials from the U.K. and many other countries. The collection comprises both fiction and non-fiction, including newsreels, amateur films, animation, and advertising, all dating back to the earliest days of cinema.
Information about the Archive is here: https://www.bfi.org.uk/bfi-national-archive
Search the contents of the Archive here: https://www.bfi.org.uk/bfi-national-archive/search-bfi-archive.
Information about access to the Archive for non-commercial research may be found here: https://www.bfi.org.uk/bfi-national-archive/research-bfi-archive/research-viewing-services.
BFI Reuben Library holds books, periodicals, and press cuttings and has over many years compiled a huge index to those collections. The Special Collections section contains press books, scripts, and other ephemera, alongside a Stills Posters and Designs collection.
Search the BFI’s collections here: http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web.
BFI Distribution, https://www.bfi.org.uk/bfi-distribution, deals with new independent features and classic re-releases. Its contents may be found here: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/distribution/film_format/dcp.
BFI Screenonline: See also the Databases section below for the BFI Filmography Project, BFI Infographic: Women in U.K. feature film 1911-2017 and BFI Screenonline.
IFI Irish Film Archive, Irish Film Institute, 6 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin D02 PD85, Republic of Ireland.
Telephone: +353 1 679 5744.
The IFI Irish Film Archive houses one of the largest collections of film and film-related materials in Ireland, comprising both fiction and non-fiction, including newsreels, amateur films, animation, and advertising.
General information on the Archive is here: https://ifi.ie/archive.
More specific information about the collection is here: https://ifi.ie/archive/moving-image-collections.
Information on accessing the Archive’s holdings is here: access@irishfilm.ie.
Some material may be accessed by the iPlayer, such as the Collections (https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/collections/). In addition to the general search facility, iPlayer materials are listed under fifteen categories, which can be found here: https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/browse/, while films written and/or directed by women may be found, categorised under a variety of headings, here: https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/f-rated/. There is also the option to search the IFI’s book collection.
The Feminist Library, The Sojourner Truth Community Centre, 161 Sumner Road, Peckham, London SE15 6JL, United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 20 7261 0879.
The Feminist Library holds a large archive collection of Women’s Liberation Movement literature, particularly second-wave materials dating from the late 1960s to the 1990s. General information is available here: https://feministlibrary.co.uk, while the catalogue may be searched here: https://catalogue.feministlibrary.co.uk. Access – Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – by appointment.
The Glasgow Women’s Library, 23 Landressy Street, Glasgow G40 1BP, United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 141 550 2267.
“The only Accredited Museum in the U.K. dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements, with a lending library, archive collections and innovative programmes of public events & learning opportunities…The GWL Archive Collection is broadly comprised of three elements: Archives donated to GWL, including the papers and records of organisations and individuals that represent the achievements and activities connected to women and women’s issues; the Lesbian Archive (formerly the LAIC), one of the most significant LGBT Historical collections in the UK with material spanning from the 1920s to the present day; and GWL’s own archives, with records relating to our groundbreaking work with women across Scotland and beyond.”
General information is available here: https://womenslibrary.org.uk, while the collection may be searched here: https://womenslibrary.org.uk/explore-the-library-and-archive/the-archive-collection and here: https://archive.womenslibrary.org.uk.
Databases:
This listing is specifically of filmographic information. Other databases – for example, of women’s festivals – may be found elsewhere in these Resources pages.
BFI Screenonline:
British Film Institute online, searchable archive of film and television material. See above under British Film Institute. Announcing itself as “the definitive guide to film and TV history”, this website was compiled between 2003 and 2014. It offers online information on a wide range of topics, including individual films and TV programmes, synopses, credits, production companies, people, specially written essays along with stills, and clips. It is no longer updated.
See http://www.screenonline.org.uk.
BFI Filmography Project:
https://www.bfi.org.uk/bfi-national-archive/research-bfi-archive/bfi-filmography.
“The BFI Filmography is a groundbreaking project which compiles, for the very first time, a comprehensive list of UK feature films released to cinemas from the beginning of film history until now.” It includes various breakdowns including:
BFI Infographic: Women in U.K. Feature Film 1911-2017:
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/infographic-women-uk-film-1911-2017.
A project devoted to revealing how women’s roles in British cinema have changed (or not) since 1911.
British Universities Film & Video Council/Learning on Screen:
http://bufvc.ac.uk/archives – not updated since 2018.
Founded in 1948 by a group of University teachers aiming to promote the use of film in higher education and research, the BUFVC built up its own small collection of moving images but, perhaps more importantly, collated a good deal of information about film- and television-making in the U.K. Their Film & Video Distribution Database (FVDD) – now findable only through the Wayback Machine at https://web.archive.org/web/20180322062225/http://fv-distribution-database.ac.uk – outlines the histories of distributors of independent and artists’ film and video such as the London Film-makers’ Co-op, The Other Cinema, LVA, London Electronic Arts, and Lux, as well as Circles and Cinema of Women which merged to form the present-day women’s distribution company Cinenova.
Women and Silent British Cinema:
Established in 2007 to collate and share research being undertaken on women and cinema in Britain during the silent era. Updated only intermittently. Contents listed in alphabetical order of women’s names and under categories such as actresses, cinematographers, directors, and musicians. https://womenandsilentbritishcinema.wordpress.com.
Women Film Pioneers Project:
“A scholarly resource exploring women’s global involvement at all levels of film production during the silent film era.” Compiled and edited by the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship, Columbia University Libraries, New York, this database includes biographies detailing the various archival holdings related to a given woman, essays on particular groups of women, on women’s activities in a variety of countries, on individual studios, and links to other resources. It is regularly augmented by contributions from scholars and historians from around the world.
To submit the details of an archive, library, or database, please use the contact form below.
WFTHN 