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Dr Luke McKernan

Luke McKernan is Curator, Moving Image at the British Library, the first person to hold this role. He is leading the development and promotion of British Library collections in the medium of the moving image and has been instrumental in developing moving image and audio-visual strategies for the Library. Previously he was Head of Information at the British Universities Film & Video Council, during which time he served as Chair of the Film Archive Forum, the representative body for the UK's public sector moving image archives. Prior to that he was a cataloguer at the BFI's National Film and Television Archive. Luke is a film historian with a particular interest in early and non-fiction film, while having a strong interest in new media developments. His publications include Topical Budget: The Great British News Film (1992), Walking Shadows: Shakespeare in the National Film and Television Archive (1994, co-edited with Olwen Terris), Who's Who of Victorian Cinema (1996, co-edited with Stephen Herbert) and Yesterday's News: The British Cinema Newsreel Reader (2002). Much of his writing is now online, and he maintains three websites, a social network (Screen Research) and two blogs, including the widely-read blog on silent cinema, The Bioscope. His diverse research interests include cinema audiences, colour cinematography, sport on film, and women film pioneers.