Features and reviews

Discover the latest from the BFI, the UK’s lead organisation for film, television and the moving image.

Features

Inside Dario Argento’s dungeon-like museum of horror memorabilia, Profondo Rosso

Take a Halloween trip inside Dario Argento’s shop and museum: a treasure trove of esoteric books, comics, horror memorabilia and creepy recreations of film sets.

By Adam Scovell

Inside Dario Argento’s dungeon-like museum of horror memorabilia, Profondo Rosso

From the Sight and Sound archive

‘Trash’ movies, the refuse of mainstream cinema

By Tim Lucas

‘Trash’ movies, the refuse of mainstream cinema

Then and now

Witchfinder General: in search of the witchy Suffolk locations of the classic Vincent Price folk horror

By Adam Scovell

Witchfinder General: in search of the witchy Suffolk locations of the classic Vincent Price folk horror

Features

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at 20 – the blockbuster gaming crime saga and the films that inspired it

By George Bass

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at 20 – the blockbuster gaming crime saga and the films that inspired it

Where to begin

Where to begin with Ang Lee

By Brogan Morris

Where to begin with Ang Lee

Features

“People should have freedom to make the films they want to make”: Mike Leigh on rejection and the challenges for young filmmakers – LFF Screen Talk

By Josh Slater-Williams

“People should have freedom to make the films they want to make”: Mike Leigh on rejection and the challenges for young filmmakers – LFF Screen Talk

Obituaries

Alvin Rakoff obituary: veteran director of British film and TV

By David Parkinson

Alvin Rakoff obituary: veteran director of British film and TV

From the Sight and Sound archive

The jezebel swagger of Miriam Hopkins

By Dan Callahan

The jezebel swagger of Miriam Hopkins

From the Sight and Sound archive

A year with Andrei

By Michal Leszczylowski

A year with Andrei

Features

Sean Baker on the politics in his films: “We’re telling stories that can be discussed by both sides” – LFF Screen Talk

By Josh Slater-Williams

Sean Baker on the politics in his films: “We’re telling stories that can be discussed by both sides” – LFF Screen Talk

Features

Denis Villeneuve: “If I had done the sandworm sequence myself, I’d still be shooting today” – LFF Screen Talk

By Ibrahim Azam

Denis Villeneuve: “If I had done the sandworm sequence myself, I’d still be shooting today” – LFF Screen Talk

From the Sight and Sound archive

Authentic talking cinema: the history of documentary

By Michael Chanan

Authentic talking cinema: the history of documentary

Features

How funding supports innovation in short filmmaking

By Emily Maskell

How funding supports innovation in short filmmaking

Features

Alien Isolation 10th anniversary: a decade of horrifyingly high stakes hide-and-seek

By Stuart Burnside

Alien Isolation 10th anniversary: a decade of horrifyingly high stakes hide-and-seek

Features

The monstrous-feminine on screen: the changing face of cinema’s female monsters

By Faye D. Effard

The monstrous-feminine on screen: the changing face of cinema’s female monsters

Where to begin

Where to begin with Tsai Ming-liang

By Ryan Swen

Where to begin with Tsai Ming-liang

Obituaries

Maggie Smith obituary: scene-stealing star who became a national institution

By David Parkinson

Maggie Smith obituary: scene-stealing star who became a national institution

Features

Shock, surprise and jarring experiences: why context matters at relaxed screenings

By Lillian Crawford

Shock, surprise and jarring experiences: why context matters at relaxed screenings

From the Sight and Sound archive

Bertolt Brecht: an address to Danish worker actors on the art of observation

By Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht: an address to Danish worker actors on the art of observation

Features

How a death-penalty thriller proved Diana Dors was more than just ‘Britain’s Marilyn Monroe’

By Chloe Walker

How a death-penalty thriller proved Diana Dors was more than just ‘Britain’s Marilyn Monroe’

Features

The night the country didn’t sleep: 40 years of Threads, the BBC’s traumatising TV movie

By George Bass

The night the country didn’t sleep: 40 years of Threads, the BBC’s traumatising TV movie

From the Sight and Sound archive

The ending of The Ballad of Narayama

By Jasper Sharp

The ending of The Ballad of Narayama

Then and now

The pretend East End of It Always Rains on Sunday, the classic Ealing noir

By Adam Scovell

The pretend East End of It Always Rains on Sunday, the classic Ealing noir

Then and now

David Lean’s This Happy Breed: how the wartime London locations look 80 years later

By Adam Scovell

David Lean’s This Happy Breed: how the wartime London locations look 80 years later

Features

The Music Lovers: how art reigns supreme in Ken Russell’s orgiastic Tchaikovsky biopic

By Lillian Crawford

The Music Lovers: how art reigns supreme in Ken Russell’s orgiastic Tchaikovsky biopic

From the Sight and Sound archive

“I'm proud of being me”: Maggie Cheung, from As Tears Go By to Irma Vep

By Bérénice Reynaud

“I'm proud of being me”: Maggie Cheung, from As Tears Go By to Irma Vep

Where to begin

Where to begin with Basil Dearden

By Alex Barrett

Where to begin with Basil Dearden

From the Sight and Sound archive

“We will never see that Hollywood again”: Bette Davis, grande dame of cinema

By Margaret Hinxman

“We will never see that Hollywood again”: Bette Davis, grande dame of cinema

Features

Earthbound: 30 years of the wildly inventive Japanese RPG

By Stuart Burnside

Earthbound: 30 years of the wildly inventive Japanese RPG

Then and now

The Third Man: in search of the Vienna locations, 75 years later

By Adam Scovell

The Third Man: in search of the Vienna locations, 75 years later