Oscar Film Unit Gold Anthology is a collection of student films made by the University of Surrey's film society since its formation fifty years ago.
Oscar Film Unit is one of the oldest student societies at the University of Surrey. From a recent article published in the student newspaper, it is clear that OFU predates the university by more than a decade. It therefore has a rich past which has seen it collaborate with the BBC and even win an award for film-making.
The society's film-making golden era was certainly in the 1960s and 70s. More recently, after a break of more than a decade (during which the society acted as a campus cinema and did not make new films), there has been a revival of interest in film-making. Since 1997, OFU has made a number of short films, documentaries and stop-motion animations on formats including 8mm, 16mm, analogue video and DV.
Today, there is a cupboard in the projection booth at the rear of Lecture Theatre G ("G-box") that is stuffed full of old films that the society made. The earliest of these dates from 1967. (Sadly, none of OFU's earlier work survives, although we know that OFU was making films at least a decade before.)
The surviving films are all in 16mm format. Some of them have soundtracks, whilst others are silent. Some of them are prints, whilst others are original masters, complete with splices. There are some rolls of outtakes from other film projects and even, in one case, a completed film that has not been edited together.
Unfortunately, when it rains, G-box leaks like a sieve and the films are starting to decay. Some of them are becoming warped and many have been mistreated in the past, leading to tears and breaks. Therefore, a small group of former members of the society have been working to preserve them by recording them onto digital media.
There are two reasons why it is essential that these films are preserved. The first is historical importance. Many of the films use locations around Battersea College in its final days and around Stag Hill in its infancy. There are portions of the university's history - and Guildford's history - recorded in these films that are long gone and mostly forgotten. The second reason is that some of these films are very well-made and it would be nice to be able to provide copies to the people who originally crafted them.
We have created a complete and detailed catalogue of all the films, including clips and negatives, that are in the society's possession. We have also already recorded onto Digital Video a number of the most important of the films, including documentaries from Rag Week 1967 and 1969 (it is particularly interesting to note the changes in the move from Battersea to Guildford). The current plan is to edit and clean up these films, repairing any breaks that may be present, then record them onto CD or video (or even DVD if there is sufficient demand) so that they can be distributed. We are also hoping to record a short documentary to go alongside the films. We plan to release this collection as a first volume. Depending on demand, we would then create a second volume with some of the remaining films and hopefully create a second documentary with more input from former members of the society.
David Abbott and Andy Gale
January 2002
