60 years of screen stories, digitised and preserved for you
EAFA is delighted to be a part of a new screen heritage project, which launched this month at Suffolk Libraries.
BFI Replay is a free streaming service with thousands of digitised videos and television programmes. The videos are from the collections of the BFI National Archive, EAFA, and other UK regions and nations film archives. There are also contributions from other significant archives such as the BBC and ITV.
The videos reveal an era of rapid social, industrial, political and technological change between the 1960s to the 2010s. They have been lovingly collected and cared for by archivists over half a century.
BFI Replay is exclusively available in public libraries. Suffolk Libraries was chosen to pilot the new service, which will be launched nationally in the spring.
A customer explores the BFI Replay website on a library PC.
A living digital archive
Emma Smart, Chief Librarian at BFI, said:
“BFI Replay is so important as it provides democratic access to the nation’s archive moving image heritage via our incredible public libraries! The platform is a living digital archive that will continue to grow and evolve, driving new audiences to screen heritage and local libraries around the country.
“It has been delightful working with Suffolk Libraries who have been an invaluable member of our Replay Libraries Network. The team have been with us since the very start of the project and we can’t thank them enough for all their input. Launching BFI Replay at Ipswich County Library was brilliant, it allowed us meet the library staff and demonstrate the platform to their teams and library customers. Everyone was so receptive and excited about BFI Replay it really felt like a moment!
“We are still in the beta phase of the project and very much looking for feedback on the platform before our national launch in early 2023.”
Kellie Dimmock, Information for Living Librarian at Suffolk Libraries, said:
“Our partnership with the BFI has created a brilliant environment for culture and arts to be fostered between us and the BFI Replay heritage player will be such an asset and invaluable research tool to all our customers – especially those interested in nostalgia, film, advertising, and social history from the last 60 years.”
“We want to encourage everyone to come into their local library to enjoy accessing this incredible new resource for free and experience this for themselves, as all feedback will be welcomed especially over the coming months before the national launch next year.”
Watch now in Suffolk Libraries
Anyone can access this new streaming service for free on any Suffolk library computer. BFI Replay is exclusively available on library PCs, so a visit to your local Suffolk library is highly recommended!