Please note: This event took place in July 2025
Join Professor Ian Christie, film historian Sheldon Hall andFilm4 Rights & Sales Manager Jessica Levick (Channel 4) for a discussion exploring the influence of Channel 4’s approach to film on wider culturehosted byDr Charlotte Crofts (Associate Professor Filmmaking at the University of the West of England.
The arrival of Channel 4 in November 1982 would contribute significantly to the resuscitation of a near terminally ill British film industry. Their remit to broaden the range and diversity of representations on screen and new approach to film commissioning through their Film on Four strand would lead to groundbreaking films like AngelandMy Beautiful Laundrettewhich impacted not only on broadcast but in the cinema and wider culture of the times.
This reshaping of British film culture was paralleled by an expansive and adventurous approach to both film scheduling on the channel and to commissioning programmes about film e.g. Visions series which profiled directors such as Michael Snow, Jan Švankmajer and Chantal Akerman.