BFI America Launches with Barbara Broccoli and ‘Monty Python’ Filmmaker Terry Gilliam On Board 

The British Film Institute is setting up shop across the pond. In celebration of 90 years of the BFI National Archive, the storied film institute will launch BFI America.

Barbara Brocolli, “Bond” producer and BFI fellow, will join the American board alongside “Monty Python” filmmaker Terry Gilliam, Varo Money Inc.’s Colin Walsh, Deborah Schindler, Penelope Wong and Dr. Mali Haled Kinberg.

The American branch of the archival film organization will champion the work of its British originator in the United States and internationally, maintaining the institute’s lasting partnership with Hollywood and American cinema.

‘”The UK and the US share deep and rich connections in cinema,” BFI Chief Executive Ben Roberts said. “We are excited to celebrate our continued cultural collaboration and present these extraordinary treasures from the BFI National Archive to US audiences.”

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the BFI National Archive and formally launch BFI America, filmmakers and institute leaders will gather at a celebratory event at the British Residence on April 23.

The following weekend the TCM Classic Film Festival will showcase six films from the BFI National Archive’s collection, including “Jaws,” “Blithe Spirit,” “Edge of the City,” “Mildred Pierce,” “The Private Life of Henry VIII” and “To Be or Not to Be.”

Additionally, Guillermo Del Toro will host an event at The Roosevelt Hotel, “From Across the Pond: Sights & Sounds of the British Film Institute,” with Roberts. The Mexican filmmaker and BFI executive will discuss the film discoveries and restorations that the institute has orchestrated since 1935.

The BFI National Archive is responsible for preserving films in their original state and providing a gateway for modern day film lovers to enjoy them as they were intended. From preserving early silent films on fragile nitrate film prints to collecting contemporary work via the latest digital innovations, BFI protects “lost,” never-produced works through scripts and production sketches and preserves stills and posters of global phenomenons. The archive includes over 25,000 American film and television works.

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