David John Francis (born 1935) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

film

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

. He was the second

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the UK's

National Film and Television Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the ...

from 1974 until 1989, when he was succeeded by Clyde Jeavons. Francis went on to become the Chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

(November 1991 - February 2001).

Works

* * * During the 1980s he was the leading academic member of the team that created London's internationally acclaimed Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI). In 2018 he opened the Kent Museum of the Moving Image with his wife Jocelyn Marsh.

Awards and honors

In 1990, Francis was made both a Fellow of the

British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society The British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society (BKSTS) is an organisation which serves the technical and craft skills of the Film industry, film, Music industry, sound and television industries. It was formed in 1931, originally named the ...

and a Fellow of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

for his work in film and television preservation. He was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

for his contributions to film archiving and for his work on the

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997, and is well known for its architecture, garde ...

in the

1986 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

. In 1994 Francis was awarded the Premio Jean Mitry by the organisers of the

Giornate del cinema muto Le Giornate del cinema muto (referred to in English as Pordenone Silent Film Festival) is an annual festival of silent film held in October in Pordenone, northern Italy. It is the first, largest and most important international festival dedicated ...

, the

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian language, Venetian and ) is a city and (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the capital of the Province of Pordenone, Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone. The name comes from Lati ...

-based festival devoted to silent cinema. He has been an Honorary Member of the

International Federation of Film Archives The International Federation of Film Archives (, FIAF) was founded in Paris in 1938 by the Cinémathèque Française, the Reichsfilmarchiv in Berlin, the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. FIAF brings togethe ...

since 2001. Francis was the 2002 recipient of the Mel Novikoff Award at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

. In 2004, Francis won the Silver Light Award from the Association of Moving Image Archivists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, David (Film Archivist) 1935 births Living people English archivists Film archivists British curators Librarians at the Library of Congress Officers of the Order of the British Empire