BFI Launches New Title In Its Archival Shorts Initiative

The British Film Institute (BFI) is launching another title in its archival shorts initiative - 'Handkerchief Drill' (1949).
Short films drawn from the BFI's archival collections are being supplied to free of charge to cinemas across the UK for screening before main features.
Handkerchief Drill is screening with Nicholas Hytner's 'The History Boys' in more than 100 venues, including Cineworld and City Screen cinemas and a range of independent arthouses.
This highly entertaining one-minute short was a public information film made for the Central Office of Information (COI) using the great comic talent of Richard Massingham. Reminding us that 'coughs and sneezes spread diseases', the film follows the hapless Massingham as he refuses to use a handkerchief properly.
This BFI archival initiative was launched last November with a specially commissioned short film - Mitchell & Kenyon - from director Jonathan Glazer. This enchanting portrait of Edwardian Britain was released in conjunction with Stephen Frears' Mrs Henderson Presents, and was eventually seen by over 200,000 film-goers.
The next title in the BFI's archival series will be Len Lye's pioneering 'A Colour Box' (1935), a celebration of pure colour put to a soundtrack of Cuban music.
(DS)