The British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies’ Special Interest Group on Colour and Film is an international forum of scholars, filmmakers, archivists and film conservation specialists.

The Colour and Film SIG offers a space in which to discuss questions that arise through the study of colour, its technologies, theories, philosophies and their historical contexts in cinema. The Colour and Film Research Group organises seminars, screenings, conferences, publications, and the ‘Notes on Colour’ blog to facilitate discussion and collaboration on Colour and Film.

Areas of research range include colour materials and processes (for example, tinting, toning, hand painting, Kinemacolor, Pathécolor, Dufaycolour, Gasparcolor, Agfacolor, Eastmancolor and digital colourisation); the theories and intermedial contexts that have informed colour design; and approaches to colour advocated by companies such as Technicolor. The Colour and Film Research Group explores the history of colour and experimentation in the making, circulation and exhibition of film.

Concepts explored in different contexts and film texts include ‘natural colour’, realism and spectacle; colour and non-fiction film colour and the travelogue; the association of colour with the cosmetic, ornamentation and all that is trivial that persists and continues to find new meanings that testify to its role as a vital aspect of film history, making, and theory; theories colour perception, subjectivity, affect and sexuality; colour and genre, through to the conservation, restoration and exhibition of archival film.

The Colour and Film SIG has organised conference panels and symposiums on colour cinema, colour and realism, and fiction/ nonfiction film.

The BAFTSS Colour and Film SIG is affiliated with the Colour Group GB who organise an annual International Conference on Colour in Film

The British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies’ Special Interest Group on Colour and Film is convened by Professor Sarah Street (University of Bristol), Dr Liz Watkins (University of Leeds) and Dr Vicky Jackson (University of Bristol) continues to welcome new members. If you would like to join the Colour and Film SIG and you are a member of BAFTSS  (or join) please contact Dr Liz Watkins, University of Leeds e.i.watkins@leeds.ac.uk .

Founding Members of the BAFTSS Special Interest Group in Colour and Film. Twitter:  @BAFTSSColorFilm

Added 4th December 2017

Updated 28 May 2023