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. Utilising the opportunities offered by seminars, screenings, conferences, research projects and publications the group aims to facilitate discussion and collaboration on Colour and Film.

Areas of research and interest range from the materials and processes that facilitate its use – such as tinting, toning, hand painting, Kinemacolor, Pathécolor, Dufaycolour, Gasparcolor, Agfacolor, Eastmancolor  – to the colour designs advocated by companies such as Technicolor, to the history of experimentation in the making, circulation and exhibition of film.

Concepts explored in different contexts and texts include that of ‘natural colour’, realism and spectacle in travel films; the association of colour with cosmetic, ornamentation and all that is trivial despite forming a vital aspect of meaning in film; theories colour perception, subjectivity, affect and sexuality; colour and genre (science fiction, melodrama, horror), 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.

BAFTSS 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.

Added 4th December 2017

Updated 21 April 2022