£50 MILLION IN DIGITISATION AWARDS ANNOUNCED

THE NEW Opportunities Fund have announced £50 million in Digitisation Awards to 158 UK national and local organisations.
The Screenonline consortium, made up of the British Film Institute (bfi), British Pathe, the Lux Centre, and Cinenova, have been awarded nearly £2.5 million.
Screenonline will produce an extensive online resource which will include thousands of hours of digitised films and television programmes. They will be supported by still photography, production design, scripts and other contextual materials.
Key themes will be: the history of Britain’s creative endeavours in film and television and the history of Britain in the 20th century as told through moving image. These targeted themes will provide exacting learning pathways for all those interested in the defining arts of our time - film and television.
Jon Teckman, Director of the bfi, said: "The bfi holds a wealth of film and television materials in trust for everyone in the UK. By working with British Pathe, the Lux Centre and Cinenova, and their equally valuable collections, this grant will enable us to create an invaluable and extensive online resource which will provide public access to a unique audio-visual history of Britain in the 20th century."
The content will be housed on a single database and will be fully searchable. Users will be able to browse a number of self-contained themed collections for which linking narrative material will be developed. (CD)