Tag Archives: Film

New to the Library: BFI Player

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*The Library now has full 1 year access (until 30 Sept 2024) to BFI Player via a deal with JISC. You can access it from our Databases A-Z list, Film Studies databases list, Video Resources A-Z and DiscoverEd. Note if you already had a BFI Player account linked to our pilot subscription before 1 Oct 2023, you will need to relink your account following instructions given at the above access points.*

We are happy to let you know that the Library has a pilot subscription to the fabulous BFI Player, a video on demand service from the British Film Institute (BFI). Access is available to us until the end of August 2023.

BFI Player streams acclaimed, landmark and archived films. Reflecting the BFI’s wider cultural mission the focus is on British and European independent films but it does also include international releases. And it allows you to access classic and cult films from across the decades. Continue reading →

Behind the Lens: LGBT+ History Month

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February is LGBT+ History Month and this year’s theme is #BehindThe Lens. This aims to celebrate “LGBT+ peoples’ contribution to cinema and film from behind the lens. Directors, cinematographers, screen writers, producers, animators, costume designers, special effects, make up artists, lighting directors, musicians, choreographers and beyond.” (LGBT+ History Month, 2023)

To help you learn more we’ve pulled together just a small selection of Library resources that will allow you to start to look ‘Behind the Lens’.

Books and more books (we are a Library after all)
Films, TV, documentaries, etc.
Doing your own research

Books and more books (we are a Library after all)

Front cover of 'The Oxford Handbook of Queery Cinema'.Why not start with The Oxford handbook of queer cinema as an introduction. This hefty tome covers a wide variety of topics including silent and classical Hollywood films, European and American independent and art films, post-Stonewall and New Queer Cinema, global queer cinema and new queer voices and forms.

New queer cinema: A critical reader considers the filmmakers, the geography, and the audience of New Queer Cinema. While Queer cinema in Europe brings together case studies of key films and filmakers in this area. Sapphism on screen: Lesbian desire in French and Francophone cinema focuses even more specifically on films made by male and female directors working in France and other French-speaking parts of the world. In a queer time and place: Transgender bodies, subcultural lives is the first full-length study of transgender representations in film but also art, fiction, video and music. Whereas LGBTQ film festivals: Curating queerness pays homage to the labour of queer organisers, critics and scholars. Continue reading →

Things I wish I’d Known: Work, Rest, Play

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In my last post I shared six things I wish I’d known sooner about the Library. But there’s more to university life than studying! Even though in the depths of essay season you might feel like you should be paying rent to the Library staff rather than your landlord, when you’re working hard it’s important to remember to rest and play too! So here are five tips for taking care of yourself and enjoying your time at Edinburgh… 

 

1. Get out and about 

An evening swim at Portobello…

Edinburgh is one of the most stunning cities in the UK (I’m not at all biased). It is also one of the greenest cities – with more green space than any of the UK’s other big cities. We literally have a 650-acre Highland-esque landscape ten minutes’ walk from central campus… visit Holyrood Park if you haven’t already! 

If you’re lucky enough to be living in the city during your studies, make the most of it. Grab a few pals and plan a hike up Blackford Hill after a big essay deadline – or a meander through the Meadows after a library session. Maybe even take a cold plunge at Portobello Beach before your morning tutorial. I found getting away from screens and into nature one of the best ways to rest and escape throughout my studies.   Continue reading →