Saved for the nation

Long ago, in November 2005, in fact, we reported that the University / Union had begun disposing of OFU's assets.

One of the last of OFU's Old Guard, Scoot, told us that the Fumeo projector and rewind table had gone. More disturbingly, the cupboard containing OFU's 16mm, 8mm and VHS archive had also ominously disappeared.

We have always believed that the contents of that cupboard represented a unique and valuable historical resource for the University of Surrey and the community at large. The humble spools of film contained therein are completely irreplaceable.

Fortunately, we have already preserved a number of the films as part of the Oscar Film Unit Gold Anthology project. But the most important piece of good news is that Scoot himself rescued several reels of film, including the legendary Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head and has donated these to the Official OFU Archive, to which this site belongs.

Along with the few remaining films, Scoot supplied complete Projectionists' Logs covering the period from 1993 to the society's eventual demise, which perhaps form the most substantial written record possible of OFU's days as a film exhibitor.

Update: We have located the missing 16mm prints. They are, mercifully, currently safe and sound in the care of the University of Leicester Students' Union.