Films and Filming

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Films and Filming (1954–1980, 1981–1990) was a highly regarded monthly film journal^[1] that was, as well, the longest-running British periodical focused on a gay print audience prior to partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.^{[2][better source needed]}

This section needs expansion with: a more complete history, based on broadened sources including secondary and tertiary, that includes the matter of its social acceptability pre-decriminialisation, the enterprises' leadership and writing talent, and its evolving content (film-focused and gay audience-directed), covering both periods of the journal's operation. You can help by adding to it. (December 2024)

Founded in October 1954 "from a dingy basement near Victoria Station in London",^[3][2] Films and Filming was a mainstream and internationally-respected film journal throughout the 1950s and 1960s, "[m]ore sophisticated than [a] fan magazin[e], but less intellectually demanding than the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound".^[2] Produced under the imprint of Hansom Books by publisher Philip Dosse (and a team of editors "almost exclusively gay"), it was part of that publisher's "distinguished portfolio of arts magazines on theatre, ballet, books and art, as well as film".^[3] Widely available in bookshops and newsagents, it was the most successful title of Hansom.^[2]

The magazine's film focus, its affordability, its esteemed writers—in 1966, editor Peter Baker added screenwriter David McGillivray as a regular columnist,^[4] "respected cinema journalist Robin Bean" added reviewer Peter Whitehead,^[1] and others contributing included "world-famous writers, directors and actors like Ingmar Bergman, Kenneth Tynan, Federico Fellini and... Lillian Gish" and "important critics like Raymond Durgnat and Gordon Gow"—its articles on gay-themed censorship in film and theatre, its gay-themed text and image content (e.g., on "sexually ambiguous... actors like Dirk Bogarde and Rock Hudson"), and its commercial and personal advertisements emphasising same-sex desire—these were, in the view of one scholar, key to its "appeal to many gay men" as well as Films and Filming's financial success.^{[2][non-primary source needed]}

Following the Sexual Offences Act 1967, when gay sex was partially decriminalised in England and Wales, the magazine was able to be more open and feature naked men on the cover.^[5] Its initial publication run continued through 1980, and after ceasing briefly, began again in 1981, and continued until publication ceased in 1990.^[2]

• Whitehead, P. (2011). ""Films and Filming" Reviews, 1966-1969" (original review reproductions with editorial introduction). Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media. 52 (1, Spring [Things Fall Apart: Peter Whitehead Issue, Part I]): 224–241. JSTOR 41553479. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
• Whitehead, P. (2011). ""Films and Filming": Godard Reviews, 1966-1969" (original review reproductions with brief editorial introduction). Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media. 52 (1, Spring [Things Fall Apart: Peter Whitehead Issue, Part I]): 389–398. JSTOR 41553493. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
• Bengry, Justin (2011). "The Queer History of Films and Filming" (PDF). Little Joe. 2011 (2, April): 31–41. Retrieved 27 December 2024. The subtitle of the Little Joe work is, "A magazine about queers and cinema, mostly".
• Bengry, Justin (1 November 2015). "Films and Filming: The Making of a Queer Marketplace in Pre-Decriminalisation Britain". In Lewis, Brian (ed.). British Queer History: New Approaches and Perspectives. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. doi:10.7765/9781526101563.00016Online (inactive 6 January 2025). ISBN 9781526101563. Retrieved 27 December 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2025 (link)
• Baggs, Michael (3 June 2021). "Pride month: The LGBT history you probably didn't learn in school". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
• Anand, Anita (reporting, narration); Parker, Sara & Elmes, Simon (producers) (7 August 2023). History on the Edge : Films and Filming (documentary with introductory text). BBC Radio 4. London, England: The BBC. Event occurs at 28 mins. (total time). Retrieved 27 December 2024.
• Turner, Gaby (25 March 2024). "The Rise and Fall of Films and Filming Magazine: An Oasis of Male Homosexuality under Criminalisation". The Bristorian. Retrieved 27 December 2024.

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