Last Sunday saw the Winter Gardens fullier than I’ve ever seen it, with over 350 people crammed into the main hall, and standing room only at the back.
As you would’ve read in the events diary last week, it was of course for Looking Through the Isle of Wight Film Archives. This superb event was organised by the Ventnor Film Society on behalf of the Isle of Wight Film Archive, who’ve rescued and edited footage over the years to form the enormous and varied collection that they have today.
We were treated to an introduction and commentary by Bob Ennis as the films were shown, where he gave a background to not only the footage, but how it came about. There were some wonderful stories, such as the film reels that were thought to be lost forever and turned up in a skip in Essex. Many items had been donated, others discovered by accident.
As an Overner, it was really interesting to watch, but for Islanders, I’m sure it was particularly nostalgic. Granted, there wasn’t much footage of Ventnor, but the few rare glances at our lovely town raised many gasps and chatter.
The sell out event clearly proves testament to the thirst for footage of the Island in bygone times – whether it be from 1910 or the 1960’s.
I really hope that it will be repeated again, and feel it is something that could be continued on a regular basis. In fact, it’s events like this that help keep the archive going and it was pleasing to see that the DVD shop was still busy half an hour after the show finished.
If you have any footage of the island, old or new, the archive are keen to get hold of it. Who knows, your footage may well be aired to a hall full of people in 50 years time (that’s if we have any public amenities left).
Get in touch if you have any Island footage and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Image courtesy of Steve Holden, Back of the Wight
PS. If you went along and want to add your comments, a thread has been started on the forum by watchdog. Anyone is welcome to join in.
