Regional films
Sir: One or two facts about my visit to the Teesside Film Theatre might illuminate Mr Jeffrey Edwards. It is true I arrived twenty minutes late, although this was agreed beforehand. The British Midland Airways plane also left Heathrow forty minutes late, which didn't help. I never agreed to any interviews while in Teesside so can hardly be held responsible for their being cancelled since I did not even know that they existed. My information about 'only four out of every five people' not being aware that Middlesbrough had a film theatre comes partly from my own observations but mostly from long and detailed conversations with the Film Officer of the Nor- thern Arts Association, who should know. The 16mm projector at the Teesside Film Theatre is fit 'only for scrap iron' (the projectionist's words); the film Mr Edwards refers to which 'went to black' had five minutes exactly to run (I've just timed it) and consists of picture and sound. The projectionist was, therefore, clearly not doing his job when he stopped the film. I have met many projectionists of forty years' experience who have showed films backwards, upsidedoWn and out of focus, have scratched, rip- ped or torn the prints and have hacked out snippets for their own home movies. A projectionist of one year's experience, moreover, would have known .that it is not customary to put cue dots on 16mm films. The film clips I show are mostly in excellent condition and have projected since perfectly. My whistle stop tour (I have to date visited a dozen cinemas) was arranged largely at the request of the BFI. As they will tell you, I was reluctant to accept because of other commitments and have been late at only one other place. I am fully aware of why the regional film theatres exist, but see no evidence of this policy being effected satis- factorily in Teesside, so I stand by my original criticisms of the BPI. These, I notice, Mr Edwards did nothing to refute. I admire the intentions of the BFI totally but note that, in some places, these intentions are waylaid, to put it mildly, by such as Jeffrey Edwards.
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