Film Heritage
The Film Heritage Strand of the Heritage Hub launched in 2023. Hertfordshire is at the heart of film and screen production, internationally recognised for its long heritage at Elstree Studios, Sky Studios and other facilities. We seek to capture and develop that connection, and promote the links we have with this rich heritage.
Howard Berry , Reader in Film Heritage Practice, leads on the research, with his integral work on the Elstree Project and links to studios around Hertfordshire, the UK and the USA.
Other key members include Prof Tony Shaw, Dr Laura Mee, Dr James Harvey, and Dr Sam George.
Read more about Howard Berry's pioneering work here: https://www.herts.ac.uk/research/impact-our-research/case-studies/research-commitment-case-studies/story-and-place/the-elstree-project-capturing-the-rich-history-of-hertfordshires-film-studios
We are very pleased that Howard Berry's feature documentary, Her Name Was Moviola , has just been announced as one of the three shortlisted finalists, in the category of Best Screen-based Practice Research (Feature), at the 2025 British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) awards.
Read more about Howard's work on the documentary here: Howard Berry: Directing Her Name Was Moviola | So The Theory Goes
The Film Heritage strand builds on the connections made by the Heritage Hub through the Herts, Camera Action! project funded by the Government Community Renewal fund, and delivered in partnership with Visit Herts, and the Hertfordshire Growth Hub.
Howard Berry, Reader in Film Heritage Practice, has been running a long established project on the oral histories of the studios at Elstree.
Since 2009, Howard Berry and students from the School of Creative Arts have been working to record oral history interviews, stage events and make new documentaries.
The Elstree Project includes:
- History of British TV from the 1960s
- Stanley Kubrick’s Shining
- Behind the Scenes operatives at Elstree
- Archived interviews with 65 Elstree veterans from Steven Spielberg to Barbara Windsor
The project website has more information and links to videos and interviews. Visit the Elstree Project website (theelstreeproject.org).
The memories of local film and TV veterans form a key part of our unique film and television heritage. They are the authentic voice of the story of how film and television has grown and prospered in Elstree and Borehamwood since 1914.
Initially, until 2016 we worked with Elstree Screen Heritage, a group of local volunteers, but we are now continuing this work with the aim to record, preserve, and share the testimonies of our contributors.
The Elstree Project has been endorsed by the Oral History Project of media industry union BECTU; and we have had support and endorsement from major industry names including the BFI, the BBC, ITV, StudioCanal, Pathé, and Network Releasing.
AHRC/ESRC IAA funded project on prisons and film
Deirdre O'Neill, senior lecturer in film, School of Creative Arts, has received funding from the AHRC/ESRC IAA Knowledge Exchange Placement Scheme funding to go into two prisons and make films with serving prisoners.
In 2023, Dr O'Neill made a film about the education department with young offenders at HMP Isis and in HMP Downview working with a group of women prisoners making two films. Access to the means of audio-visual film production provides an alternative educational model for those often alienated by existing educational institutions and creates the space to develop informed critical engagement with the media, politics and culture for those prisoners taking part.
This project has built on Dr O'Neill's previous work with Inside Film (in HMP Wandsworth and HMP Rochester and with those on probation).
The HMP Wandsworth films have been digitised and stored in The BFI National Archive which sets out to preserve British filmmaking history with highly educational and cultural value