Current film gallery at Hove Museum & Art Gallery

As an ex teacher of Media and Film the Film & Media collection housed at Hove Museum & Art Gallery has always interested me, and I was happy to be given an excuse to delve into it in some detail when I was commissioned to write a Use Review for the collection.

The impressive collection encompasses optical toys, stereoscopes, magic lanterns and slides, photographic cameras and photographs, film apparatus, theatre and cinema programmes, books, cinema décor & fittings and ephemera – charting the story of film from the 19^th century to the present day.

With so many strong links to the birth of film it seems the organisation has a duty to inspire awe and wonder at the physicality of early film and film techniques, and also to locate the stories they are telling firmly within Brighton & Hove, and it’s immensely exciting that the collection has the capacity to do so.

I hope some of the recommendations I made in the report might help ensure that the magic of early film is translated effectively to audiences.