BFI Player screenshot (2013)We at the BFI like a list – after all, our magazine Sight & Sound practically invented the idea of listing the Greatest Films of All Time for its once-a-decade poll. But come this year’s end-of-year list season, we’re especially excited to have our new BFI Player included in GQ magazine’s rundown of the 100 Best Things in the World Right Now.
Launched in October, the BFI’s new video-on-demand service – which GQ dubs the “stream machine” – is ranked alongside the magazine’s trademark roundup of the year’s hottest gadgets, garments, girls and getaways.
“Time was,” runs the feature, “to see one of the films in the British Film Institute’s archive, you had to trek over to the blasted heath of London’s South Bank. Now you can watch the best of British cinema online – both free classics and pay-to-view new releases – through its iPlayer-esque website.”
Warranting special mention are the pioneering films of ordinary people and street scenes made by Mitchell and Kenyon over 100 years ago – a treasure trove of archive footage which was discovered in 2005 and has now been made available in its entirety for free on the Player.
