British Film Institute and Fairfield University Team Up for New Partnership

The historic collaboration—the BFI’s first formal partnership with a U.S. university—will bring acclaimed British film expertise, screenings, educational opportunities, and international experiences to Fairfield students and the wider community.

For those of us who study and teach the history of motion pictures, the summer of 2026 has been an encouraging time. The overwhelming popularity of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is a cause for celebration, reminding us that cinematic stories told with nuance and sophistication continue to resonate with audiences, and that communal viewings remain a valuable experience.

This renewed focus on the craft of filmmaking is particularly welcome at this time, as it coincides with Fairfield University's brand-new partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI). Founded in 1933, the BFI preserves and cares for the world’s largest film and television archive and uses their knowledge to educate and deepen understanding of the moving image. Christopher Nolan was awarded the BFI’s prestigious Fellowship in 2023.

Fairfield University will be the BFI’s first U.S. university partner. Building on their successful partnerships with universities across the U.K., the collaboration will allow our faculty, students, staff, and larger community to take part in a wide range of movie-related events and experiences, from film screenings and online workshops to study trips abroad.

In Fairfield University, the BFI saw an institution with a shared set of values, a similar commitment to inclusiveness and a belief that film is a powerful tool for learning, connection, and cultural impact.

“We are delighted to partner with Fairfield University and to launch this ambitious collaboration,” said Simone Pyne, head of enterprise and learning partnerships at the British Film Institute. “The BFI has deep and longstanding ties with the U.S. across our work. We partner regularly with major Hollywood studios, U.S. cultural organizations and institutions; our screen industries have long inspired one another; and the BFI National Archive is home to one of the world’s great collections of U.S. screen heritage outside America.”

“In the U.K., the BFI works extensively with universities across the country, and Fairfield will become the BFI’s first formal university partner in the U.S.,” Pyne continued. “Our partnership is built around a shared passion for the moving image and the power of storytelling: its ability to create meaning and a sense of belonging, and its role as a powerful creative and economic force. Together, we want to strengthen the place of film and the moving image at Fairfield, building on the rich history of transatlantic collaboration. Through the partnership, we’ll work with students and faculty to deepen an appreciation of film, understanding of the history of the moving image, and support students’ abilities.”

The partnership will launch with a film screening series at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield, titled Bond and The Beatles: British Film Icons of the 1960s. Across four separate nights throughout the fall, the series will examine how two British legends that emerged in the '60s—James Bond and The Beatles—transformed the image of Britain around the world. Each film will be preceded by a brief video introduction by a BFI expert placing the movie in a historical and social context as well as post-screening audience Q&A, which I'm looking forward to facilitating.

Also in the planning stages, is a spring 2027 undergraduate class titled “Film Genres: British Film -1920 to 1960,” which will feature a one-week spring break trip to the BFI in London. Students will have the opportunity to hear lectures from BFI National Archive curators and scholars, receive training on writing film essays from a Sight and Sound magazine journalist, and visit the BFI National Archive (home to the BFI’s film and television collections) in leafy provincial Berkshire to learn from world-leading archival practitioners on how motion pictures are preserved and restored. These students will also screen films from the BFI’s collection.

We hope that this will be the first of many Fairfield-led excursions to the BFI, not just for students, but possibly for alumni and community members as well. I'm beyond excited to have played a role in bringing this important opportunity to Fairfield, which complements our growing number of global initiatives. I hope you'll consider joining me for the initial film screenings of Bond and The Beatles and then keep your eyes on the Quick Center website for more great programming with our new colleagues across the pond.

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