Wendy Russell

The Materiality of the Archive: Creative Practice in Context The Materiality of the Archive is the first volume to bring together a range of methodological approaches to the materiality of archives, as a framework for their engagement, analysis and interpretati...

Very pleased that the book Sue and I edited, The Materiality of the Archive: Creative Practice in Context, has just come out in paperback (so a bit cheaper!).

www.routledge.com/The-Material...

‘La tapisserie, c’est moi’: Macron accused of putting politics first in Bayeux tapestry loan Organiser of petition says French president ignoring expert advice that artefact too fragile to be transported to UK

The British Museum is also to be held responsible for this decision - they should care about the potential/probably damage as much as the French conservators. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

The shooting script for Sally Potter’s Orlando Packed with notes, sketches and Polaroids, this shooting script for Sally Potter’s film of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando illustrates the complexity of one of cinema’s undersung roles: the script supervisor...

www.bfi.org.uk/features/sho...

What Isn’t at the V&A Storehouse You can’t escape it: this is the same colonial museum we know, in a shiny new suit

Interesting & critical review of the new V&A Storehouse by @profdanhicks.bsky.social

artreview.com/what-isnt-at...

Laura Mulvey to receive a BFI Fellowship The BFI’s highest honour recognises the huge global impact of Mulvey’s work through her groundbreaking writing and filmmaking, including her seminal essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’.

Laura Mulvey to receive the BFI Fellowship this year:
www.bfi.org.uk/news/laura-m...

archives & digital media lab - volunteer call volunteer call help us fight erasure & archive against genocide from Palestine to Lebanon

www.archiveslab.org/get-involved...

It's that time again, The BFI National Archive will be opening it's doors for a behind the scenes days of tours for Heritage Open Day 2025 www.tickettailor.com/events/bfihe...

Experimental Archives Conference - Kingston University, Uk Come explore the innovative and boundary-pushing world of experimental archives at Kingston University on 11th and 12th September 2025!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/experiment...

Whilst I generally avoid arguing with idiots on social media, I can’t help feeling very happy that I’ve just irritated a transphobe by telling her to ‘talk to the hand cos the face ain’t listening’. Maybe it’s the wine as I know it’s a silly comeback.

Woman’s memoirs give fascinating insight into life in 17th-century northern England Newly reunited manuscripts by Alice Thornton show how she navigated personal crises during tumultuous events such as the civil war

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

Home working in school hols:
Me: I'm working & need to concentrate, don't interrupt for a bit.
5 mins later son runs to me:
Son: There's a big problem.
Me: What?
Son: I don't know how to say it, but I need you to come.
Me: Just tell me what it is.
Son: I've got a bit of slime stuck to a newspaper.

'Failure of aid'. What a joke this guy is.

The ICO is taking action against the Cabinet Office because of lengthy and unexplained FOI delays. In a new practice recommendation the ICO is highly critical of the Cabinet Office approach to FOI, telling it to supply quarterly updates for monitoring of its future performance.

Our brilliant @womensscreenwork.bsky.social post-doc researcher, Jessica Boyall, wrote an excellent piece on Gurinder Chadha for the Recent BFI Blu-ray release of Bhaji on the Beach. Jessica is working on the Gurinder Chadha Collection for the WSW project.

YouTube video by Billscustomsounds William Merz Connie Francis Everybody's Somebody's Fool (HQ Stereo) (1962)

The wonderful Connie Francis has passed away. One of my favourite records to listen to growing up was my mum's Connie Francis album.
Such a tragic life.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a5i...

Academia.edu informed me they have an AI review of my book. Out of curiosity, I looked at it. What a depressing experience to read a computer generated 'review' What's worse is that others may read this and accept it as is. Soulless.

Object of the week: promotional still for the lost silent romcom Swim Girl, Swim Currently on display as part of the Design Museum’s celebration of a century of swimming style, this 1920s promo image offers a tantalising glimpse of a sadly lost silent feature starring Bebe Daniels...

Our amazing BFI Special Collections Archives Assistant, Eva Norton, wrote this week's Object of the Week, a promotional still for the lost silent romcom Swim Girl, Swim
www.bfi.org.uk/features/obj...

Historicide in Gaza Israel’s destruction of official and personal archives is changing how Palestine’s story can be told

Bringing together the many ‘cides’ inflicted on Palestine with the hope of the ‘accidental and piecemeal archive’

newlinesmag.com/essays/histo...

Overheard snippet of a phone conversation on the train tonight:
"I have to let my facial hair grow out for the film"
Person on the other end of the phone responds. Then he says, in a mildly irate tone
"Well, I don't really have a choice, do I?"
Guessing his partner doesn't like a hairy man.

Object of the week: The Red Shoes wallpaper by the film’s designer Hein Heckroth In the first of a new series showcasing treasures from the BFI National Archive, we put a spotlight on some big-statement interior decoration: 1950s wallpaper inspired by Powell and Pressburger’s clas...

The BFI National Archive's first Object of the Week!
This piece is by my wonderful former boss, Nathalie Morris. The wallpaper has had some excellent conservation work by or brilliant paper conservator, Tabitha Austin: www.bfi.org.uk/features/obj...

Helen Hanson, Project Lead of the Women’s Screen Work in Archives Made Visible introduces the project and the team. Pictured are the team Linda Ruth Williams, Shelley Cobb, Phil Wickham, Wendy Russell and Helen Hanson, Katie Crosson and Jessica Boyall. The team are photographed in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum lower galleries. Also pictured is the BFI Archive at Berkhamsted and the Exterior of the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum at the University of Exeter

Jessica Boyall pictured outlining our project archive strand

Shelley Cobb and Linda Ruth Williams outline plans to interview filmmaker donors

Lisa Smithstead introduces the project aims to interview archivists and curators

It was so great to be at #DWFTH7 in Lincoln and to present our project’s first steps. Thanks for the insightful comments and discussion from the audience #womensscreenwork #femfilmhistory #archives @bdcmuseum.bsky.social @bellecobb.bsky.social @archiveswendy.bsky.social

Our AHRC Project Women's Screen Work in the Archives Made Visible now has a bluesky account! Do follow @womensscreenwork.bsky.social

Francesca Wade · Why waste time hot airing? The Best-Paid Woman in NYC Belle da Costa Greene was a trainee librarian at Princeton University when J.P. Morgan hired her to dust and pack his...

‘For a largely self-taught young woman of that period, such a career was remarkable – near impossible for a Black woman. But Greene moved through the world as white.’

Francesca Wade on Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan’s librarian at the turn of the 20th century:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Women’s screen work project team assemble for #DWFTH7 !

Really excited to present work in progress together for the first time at the excellent Doing Women’s Film & TV History conf and talk with other scholars of #femfilmhist

Dani Garavelli · At the Whisky Bond: The Alasdair Gray Archive Alasdair Gray’s illustrations tumbled out like a William Blake vision: boggle-eyed angler fish, flying horses,...

'Dallas struggles to keep the archive afloat. The Scottish government paid the first 2 years’ rent...But the archive has no core funding & Dallas doesn’t receive a salary. She is determined to keep her weekly tours free, but relies on visitors...to make a donation.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

So sorry, Mel. They don't care one bit about staff, nor their families and how it will impact their lives. Such bullshit.

Week 28: 4 – 10 June 2025 – BFI’s ten-year strategy

Hear about the BFI's Star Wars print and Ann Skinner's continuity script for the film. And my wonderful colleague, Kay, wrote about our recent research showcase:
blog.bfi.org.uk/knowledge-an...

Hang in there, Scarlett. It's tough and tiring, but the fight must continue x

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage event:
Black Heritage Voices 2025: The Importance of Black Archives in Preserving Historical Memory
www.serendipity-uk.com/event/black-...

YouTube video by WhispersRed ASMR Sensory ASMR Tour 🎥 BFI National Archive 🎥 Vintage Analogue Sounds, Film Restoration, Tape Machines

My brilliant colleagues at the BFI made this Sensory ASMR tour. A particular shout out to Lily and Kay in Special Collections, who have been doing a superb job auditing our paper collections.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=nMRp...