Emily Lloyd as Linda in Wish You Were Here — one of the now iconic films screened on Film on Four. Credit: Film4/Zenith/Working Title
The research of University of Portsmouth experts was celebrated at a major national conference as part of Channel 4’s 30th birthday celebrations.
Dr Justin Smith, of the University’s Centre for Cultural and Creative Research, is head of the Channel 4 and British Film Culture research team.
The research team’s outputs over four years culminated in a two-day conference at London’s Southbank which brought together media historians and key personnel from film and television industries to review Channel 4’s contribution to British film culture over three decades. The conference also debated the future of public service broadcasters’ support for UK film.
The conference was a showcase of four years of research at Portsmouth funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in partnership with the British Universities Film and Video Council.
Dr Smith said: “In the early 1980s British cinema was in the doldrums but Channel 4’s Film on Four strand quickly transformed the traditional 90-minute drama, producing hits like My Beautiful Laundrette and Letter to Brezhnev which enjoyed cinema releases before television broadcast.
“These films have become national treasures and it’s no exaggeration to say that Film on Four brought the British film industry back from the brink.”
As part of the same research project, the Portsmouth Film Society is screening the Film on Four’s classic Wish You Were Here at the New Theatre Royal tomorrow (Tuesday, November 6) as part of a season of films put together by Dr Smith.
Dr Smith said: “As well as the conference in London we wanted to do something to locally to mark the occasion of Channel 4’s Film on Four’s 30th anniversary. What better way than to choose some classics from Film4’s great back catalogue and screen them in the city?”
