SIF and the emergence of independent film and video in Sheffield

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the emergence and development of independent film and video culture in Sheffield using a case study of the Sheffield Independent Film group (SIF) as a lens through which to frame the moving image community of the period loosely defined, 1976-1985. The study will ask: what were the enablers for SIF’s establishment? Who were the primary figures and filmmaking groups at its centre, and what types of production were being made? How did SIF’s strategy evolve during this period? What was the relationship between production in Sheffield and the wider British film and video of the time? What role did local and national government policy play in developing a moving image culture in the city? As the second half of the 1980s begin, what future did SIF and its members face? Answers to these questions will enable new light to be shed on the relationship between regional film and video development policy and entrepreneurial activity in the cultural industries and, for the first time, unveil the neglected history of an independent moving image praxis in South Yorkshire.