BFI Replay is a free streaming service for public libraries with thousands of digitised videos and television programmes from the collections of the BFI National Archive and UK regions and nations film archives, alongside contributions from other significant archives such as BBC and ITV.
Videos from the 1960s to the 2010s, lovingly collected and cared for by archivists over half a century but now at great threat of technology obsolescence, record and reveal an era of rapid social, industrial, political and technological change.
Three themes have been created as a way to explore the collections.
- Time Machine
- The Making of Us
- Screen Stories
Collections present historical events such as the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike and the AIDS epidemic; explore our communities and shared memories in archive film, TV and video; and revisit classic TV from Coronation Street to The Book Tower, alongside public information films, adverts, interviews with filmmakers and much more.
If you are a UK lending library service and would be interested in knowing more about BFI Replay, use our enquiry form below.
If you do not work at a UK lending library service, please email replay@bfi.org.uk.
What makes BFI Replay unique?
It’s exclusively available for free to UK public lending libraries and library users, so offers democratic access for the public to the nation’s archive moving image heritage for the first time.
The platform is a living digital archive that will grow and evolve as newly digitised content is added and as libraries and the public engage with the platform.
When will it be available?
BFI Replay is currently being tested with our Replay Libraries Network (a small group of library services and users across the UK).
The plan is to commence full UK roll out of the platform from February 2023.
How to access BFI Replay and finding out more
BFI Replay is a web application that will work on any desktop PCs typically found in libraries using a secure IP address provided on signing up to the service.
Library services need to register with the BFI at replay@bfi.org.uk and will need to supply all public IP address ranges used by the library service. IT teams should easily be able to supply this.
Users may also access BFI Replay on their mobile and tablet devices in libraries that offer bring-your-own-device services.