CMDA UK Steering Committee

On January 22nd, 2020, CMDA hosted members of its UK Steering Committee at Lancaster University. This was an opportunity for all CMDA staff to present their current and upcoming contributions to the project. Useful feedback was provided by the committee, particularly in relation to the development and management of the archival website and public engagement events.

Richard, Annette, Sarah, and Jamie attended the University of Exeter for a research trip. On the first evening, the CMDA team hosted a seminar for staff and postgraduate students, with each member of the team presenting a key element of the project. Richard presented an overview of CMDA, with particular focus on the design of the project and the proposed outcomes. Annette discussed the history of CMDA and the twenty-five years of projects, publications and other outputs that contributed to the Cinema Culture in 1930s Britain archive. Sarah explored the range of creative outputs that will be drawn from CMDA and their value as a means of engaging with the public. Finally, Jamie presented the practical challenges of digitising the archive and also discussed his plans for applying recent developments in cinema historiography to the archive’s collections. </p>

The following day, the team visited the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, where curator Phil Wickham hosted a tour of the public facing exhibitions. Following the tour, the team attended a meeting with Phil and Helen Hanson, Academic Director of the museum, to discuss their archival practices and website design.