The University became proud caretakers of Terence’s personal archive when the Liverpool-born screenwriter and director gifted it to Edge Hill three days before he died in 2023.
The Archives Team have curated a collection of artefacts – many have never been seen before, including the recently discovered short film Boogie – for a free exhibition during the BFI’s upcoming season Love, Sex, Religion, Death: The Complete Films of Terence Davies.
Edge Hill archivist Dan Copley said: “Edge Hill University is honoured to safeguard Terence Davies’ archive and to bring this extraordinary collection to a wider audience.
“The exhibition at BFI Southbank will allow the public to experience the richness of Davies’ personal and creative life, including materials that have never been seen outside the archive before.”
Sophie Smith, project cataloguing archivist, added: “Cataloguing the archive has been a privilege; it’s given me an insight to the work and life of Terence Davies and the immense talent he had for the creative pursuits in his life. Seeing how his creative process translated to screen was particularly impactful.
“Seeing family letters from Terence’s mother in which she addressed him as Bud, the nickname of the protagonist in the autobiographical The Long Day Closes, really cemented just how much of Terence was woven into his films.”
Terence Davies, Edge Hill honorary doctor, is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest filmmakers best known for acclaimed features like The House of Mirth, The Long Day Closes, A Quiet Passion, Benediction and Distant Voices, Still Lives, featuring stars of the screen Gillian Anderson, Cynthia Nixon and Peter Capaldi and Jack Lowden.
In the North West he is perhaps best known for Of Time and the City, which reflected his experiences growing up in Liverpool in the 1950s and 1960s. The film was unveiled at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival to great critical acclaim before being released by the BFI.
The free exhibition – running at BFI Southbank, London, from 1 November to 30 November – is part of a complete retrospective to mark what would have been Terence’s 80th birthday. Visitors will experience a unique insight into the life and artistry of one of Britain’s most distinctive and poetic filmmakers.
Expect to see:
- behind-the-scenes photos and props such as clapper boards from The Long Day Closes and the wig worn by Cynthia Nixon in A Quiet Passion;
- original draft scripts;
- contributions from Liverpool-based Hurricane Films, which produced some of Terence’s work;
- personal items including letters from his mother;
- and an interactive reconstruction of Davies’ personal working desk, enabling audiences to step into the director’s world.
The newly-discovered short film Boogie was found while Terence’s collection was being archived at Edge Hill: the only salvageable reel in a batch severely damaged by time.
The film – a very rare find as it dates back to when Terence was a student – has been carefully digitised by the North West Film Archive offering a significant new addition to Davies’ canon. Boogie will screen to public audiences for the first time during the BFI Southbank season.
The University’s archivists Dan and Sophie will also take part in a special event, Unrealised Projects of Terence Davies on 18 November, examining films never brought to the screen and sharing stories from the archive. These events underline the University’s unique role in preserving and expanding understanding of the Liverpool-born artist’s legacy for future generations.
An Edge Hill celebration of Terence’s life and work is in planning by the Archives Team.
Love. Sex. Religion. Death. The Complete Films Of Terence Davies is at BFI Southbank from 20 October – 30 November, with a selection of films available to stream on BFI Player from 6 October. The House of Mirth, remastered by the BFI, is re-released in cinemas UK-wide by BFI Distribution on 24 October and on BFI Blu-ray on 24 November.
September 10, 2025
