The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, Exeter
I’ve probably mentioned before how I love quirky and obscure museums, like The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and Grant Museum of Zoology, both located in London’s UCL (University College London). Also located in a university is the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, to be found on Exeter University’s Streatham campus.
Bill Douglas (1984-1991) was a Scottish filmmaker no one has heard of, but his autobiographical trilogy of films made in the 1970s are extraordinary and harrowing – and like Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy, filled with enough poetry and beauty to make the poverty bearable.
The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum contains the moving image memorabilia collected by Douglas and his friend Peter Jewell. It is one of the largest collections in Europe, consisting of about 50,000 items collected over 30 years, a vast cinematic array from a Lumiere cinematographe to a Marilyn Monroe soap dish. The museum also consists of Douglas’s papers and is a place for research and study. A little gem well worth seeking out if you've got an hour or two to wait at Exeter St David’s (about a ten minute walk from the train station).
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