John Frederick Huntley (18 July 1921 – 7 August 2003) was an English film historian, educator and archivist.

Huntley was born in Kew, London and entered the film industry as a teaboy at Denham Studios around 1938.[1] After war service in the RAF, where he had a sideline in using film shows as an educational tool, he re-entered the film industry as an assistant to film score conductor Muir Mathieson; Huntley had briefly studied at the Royal College of Music just after the war began.

He joined the British Film Institute in 1952, initially working for the information department, but from 1955 in distribution. His connection with the Telekinema during the Festival of Britain led to him being appointed as a programmer at the new National Film Theatre for a time.[2] According to film collector Kevin Brownlow, Huntley was the most accessible of the BFI's staff because of his skill at bending the rules;[1] he left the institute in 1974. With one of his two daughters,[2] he set up Huntley Film Archives in 1984 with his daughter Amanda Huntley,[3] based from 2005 in the Herefordshire village of Ewyas Harold.[4]

John Huntley was a published author[5] and regular broadcaster; he presented the Anglia Television series Bygones for two years from 1987, and a later similar series, Attic Archives, for BBC Scotland. He worked for Video 125 for a short period. He died from cancer in London.[2]

Huntley Film Archives

Huntley, with one of his two daughters, Amanda,[2] set up Huntley Film Archives in 1984.[3] From 2005 it has been based in the Herefordshire village of Ewyas Harold.[4]

Huntley Film Archives celebrated its fortieth anniversary since its foundation in 2023. It has worked on countless archives-based documentaries from around the world, along with museum projects, adverts, educational resources, art installations, where ever archive film is enjoyed. The film collection, nearly all documentary, within Huntley Film Archives has now risen to nearly 100,000 unique film elements and it continues to collect and preserve celluloid based documentaries back to 1895.

Directors Amanda Huntley and Robert Dewar, together with their team of film archivists and restorers received the Focal International Award for best Archive Company of the Year in 2023.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Kevin Brownlow Obituary: John Huntley, The Independent, 28 August 2003
  2. ^ a b c d Brian Baxter Obituary: John Huntley, The Guardian, 11 August 2003
  3. ^ a b Company profile Archived 6 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Huntley Film Archive
  4. ^ a b "One of Europe's largest film archives moves to Herefordshire", BBC Hereford and Worcester (local radio station), last updated 20 December 2005
  5. ^ Among his books was Railways in the Cinema. London: Ian Allan, 1969 ISBN 0-7110-0115-4
  6. ^ "Winners Announced for the 2023 FOCAL Awards". Focal International. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

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