Events calendar

Professor Justin Smith (De Montfort University)

'Lost and Found: recovering film collections from beyond the archives'

Wednesday 28th October 5.00pm FAB 0.21 — All welcome

Abstract: This paper reports on the work of Film is Fabulous!, a partnership founded in 2023 between Midlands-based film collectors and cinema and television historians from De Montfort University, Leicester, to recover vulnerable film collections held privately. In recent years, and especially post-COVID, the number of film collectors in the UK has sadly declined, their treasures often turned to trash. Film collections which exist in private hands are twice removed from recognition: they aren’t counted in official archives and seldom catalogued by their custodians. As collections are lost, their hidden histories disappear from the purview of screen heritage. No organisation is addressing this slow fade to nothing, until now. From a 2024 pilot study, Film is Fabulous established a ‘triage’ service, based at DMU’s Special Collections. The operation researches and returns rare or missing items to official archives and copyright holders, engages professional film restoration services, provides advice to donors on the condition and disposal of collections recovered, and facilitates sales of commercial items. To date, more than a dozen collections have been processed, 28 missing items returned to the BBC and over 20 items lodged with the BFI for preservation. In 2025, the partnership also began an ongoing oral history project to interview surviving film collectors and former industry professionals, thus preserving intangible knowledge alongside films themselves. This paper offers case studies not just of notable finds but, drawing on the work of Habib et al (2025), Fischer (2023) and McKee (1978), of private film collecting as a subcultural practice.