Building the South Bank
1 July - 31 July
Mediatheque @ BFI Southbank
Belvedere Road
South Bank
London, SE1 8XT
 
  
The Mediatheque at BFI Southbank offers you the chance to view highlights from the BFI National Archive – the world’s largest and most diverse collection of moving images – for free. To mark LFA ’08 we’re launching Building the South Bank, a collection of films which illustrate the immense legacy the 1951 Festival of Britain has left on this now-iconic stretch of the Thames.
Highlights include the whimsical documentary Brief City (1952), home movies shot by excited Festival-goers, and The Happy Family, a 1952 feature film addressing the effects of redevelopment on the local community.
Bringing things into the 21st century, the magnificent re-birth of the Royal Festival Hall is documented in This is Tomorrow (2007), a filmmaking collaboration with pop mavericks Saint Etienne during their Southbank Centre residency. If you’ve missed the chance to catch this landmark documentary on the big screen, the Mediatheque is the place for you.
Visitors with a taste for everything from Art Deco to Brutalism can also enjoy The Promised Land, a collection of films exploring domestic architecture in Britain since the 1930s.
There are currently over 1000 complete films and television programmes available to view free of charge in the Mediatheque, which is open Tues 13:00-20:00 and Wed-Sun 11:00-20:00. To book a viewing station call 020 7815 1329 or simply turn up on the day. This Building the South Bank will be available indefinitely from the 1st July.
During the South Bank Hub late evening on 11th July, the Mediatheque will be open until 22:00. Other events are planned in and around BFI Southbank including free drop-in screenings in our intimate Studio cinema, and we hope to welcome Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs for a special guest DJ set in the benugo bar. Meanwhile, alfresco film fans can head outside for BFI screenings in the South Bank’s famous skate park.
Event website
|
|
|
Brief City (1952)
© BFI
The Mediatheque at BFI Southbank
Matt Antrobus © BFI
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 
Bankside Mix Big Launch Party
11 July, 5pm, Bankside Mix |
|
Bop to Architecture
11 July - 13 July, 1pm - 11pm, Multiple Locations |
|
Building the South Bank
1 July - 31 July, Mediatheque @ BFI Southbank |
|
Design Overtime What is This Place?
11 July, 9:15pm - 10pm, Design Museum |
|
 
Friday Late on the South Bank
11 July, 6pm - 10pm |
|
H- Box
3 July - 31 July, Tate Modern |
|
Hayward 40th Anniversary Talk
3 July, 7pm, The Hayward |
|
How Food Has Shaped London: A Lecture by Carolyn Steel
11 July, 7pm - 9pm, Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre |
|
How to burn your building
11 July |
|
Hub Night
11 July, 10pm - 1am, National Theatre |
|
Kiosk 2008
8 July - 20 July, 1pm - 9pm, Bankside Mix |
|
Parkour and Skater films in Skate City, Southbank
11 July, 9pm - 11:45pm, Skate City, Southbank |
|
Party Dress
11 July, 9pm - 10:15pm, Borough Market |
|
Phase Two
10 July - 12 July, National Theatre |
|
Portavilion: Big Dance at Toby Paterson Pavilion
11 July, 4pm, Potters Fields Park |
|
Psycho Buildings: Artists and Architecture
19 June - 31 July, The Hayward |
|
Richard Rogers
20 June - 20 July, Design Museum |
|
Royal Festival Hive
20 June - 31 July, Royal Festival Hall |
|
Scott King: Temporary Eyesore
20 June - 20 July, Hopton Street |
|
Skylon - London's Lost Icon
9 July - 13 July, 9:30pm, Jubilee Gardens, The Southbank |
|
Soundings from the Estuary Debate
11 July, 6:30pm - 8pm, Tate Modern |
|
Southwark Lido
9 July - 13 July, Southwark Lido |
|
The All Stars
11 July, 6:30pm - 9:45pm, The Scoop at More London |
|
The Edible Cafe
11 July, 6pm - 8pm, Unicorn Theatre |
|
This is Tomorrow
11 July, 6:15pm, BFI Southbank |
|
Upshot
19 June - 20 July, National Theatre |
|
|
