Buddies with the BFI

Apparently I am a buddy of the British Film Institute now!

After attending a lecture (Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television by Stephen Bourne) as part of their Researcher’s Tales series on 12-October, I sent a follow-up thank you email to Nina Bishop, the administrator who books attendees and generously allowed me to attend for free since I am an international student, expressing how much I enjoyed the evening and how grateful I was to be able to attend.  Then last week I received an email from one of her colleagues, touched by my genuine interest and enthusiasm , inviting me to attend two more after Nina forwarded my email to him.  Obviously I took them up on the offer and attended Monday’s with speaker Sandra Reid, a programmer for the New Zealand Film Festival.  Like all of the events I’ve been attending in London, the people I meet at them are just as good as the program!  I had the pleasure of talking to an Italian film producer based in Berlin who was attending the London Film Festival and chatting with the BFI staff I have now become so close with (teehee).  It was another great evening…I truly never regret getting out into London and taking advantage of all it has to offer.  Here’s looking forward to the next one: Ian Christie discussing the cultural impact of UK film on Monday, 2 November!

Films on Foot

I spent Saturday afternoon on an 8 mile Films on Foot Walk through the Notting Hill, Kensington, and Bayswater areas:

This walk has been timed to coincide with the BFI London Film Festival. This is a walk of contrasts taking in the elegant streets of ‘Notting Hill’ so popular with British romantic comedy film makers, as well as the green space of Kensington Gardens and the seedy streets around Bayswater used in films such as ‘Trainspotting’. Pub stop en route at a pub used in a film. We’ll end at the Prince Alfred Pub near Queensway/ Bayswater for food / drinks (sitting upstairs).

A huge group of about 100 people showed up at the Royal Oak tube station to begin the walk.  Here are some of the sights we scouted — I tried my best to capture and keep track of them all, but it was definitely a tricky task!

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code

Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life

About a Boy

Alfie

Performance

The L Shaped Room

With Nel and I

Love Actually

Portobello Road Market

“Notting Hil

Notting Hill

Notting Hill

Jack and Sarah

The Saints

The Saints

Notting Hill

Kensingoton Gardens

The Italian Job

The Big Sleep

Notting Hill & Connecting Rooms

Prince of Wales

Besides getting to see all of the locations, the walk was great for meeting other people.  As we strolled along everyone was open and willing to chat, and the walk definitely drew a diverse crowd.  I had the opportunity to connect with several people, including a native Londoner who is a member of the Metropolitan walkers (co-sponsors of the walks) and three people (two from France, one from New Zealand) who moved to London a matter of weeks or years ago.  Towards the end of the walk, as people began to drop off, I engaged in conversation with Craig (moved to London 3 weeks ago from his hometown in northern Britain; a.k.a The Best Brit Ever–I promised to include that title when blogging about it) and John (an Australian living and working in Cambridge visiting his girlfriend who shares a flat with Craig).  It was great chatting and exchanging culture with them, and we decided to continue at the pub where the walk concluded.  Six hours, five rounds of pints, and one round of fish and chips later, I was lucky enough to have had a perfect London Saturday full of fresh air, beautiful sights, great conversation and two new friends.  An as I mentioned in my London Moves Me post, that is precisely what I needed!

London Moves Me

I spent Thursday evening in Trafalgar Square with The Times BFI 53rd Annual London Film Festival.

I arrived early to make sure I got a great seat and was greeted by a growing crowd and a playlist of songs all mentioning London.  It was a beautiful, mild evening and enjoyable for many other reasons, most notably that is was free and that London Moves Me was being screened – a collection of short films from the BFI, Imperial War Museum, and London Transport Museum archives featuring the many modes of movement in London from the dawn of film until present.  Obviously this connects to my academic areas of interest (urban studies and film), especially for my City as Material research project.

Personally, though, the night was a nice reaffirmation in my relationship with London.  Settling into life here has been great, but at times I find myself feeling guilty about not constantly being out and about, or at least as much as I was 6 weeks ago.  The truth is I really am living here for these few months and I suppose it’s unreasonable to expect that I could find enough [free] things/have enough energy to be going 24/7.  It was great to be out again on a solo date with Londontown, though, and I am definitely still actively falling in love.