Meltdown (festival)

The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain.Founded by Laurence Olivier in 1963, many well-known actors have performed at the National Theatre. Until 1976, the company was based at The Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London. In addition to performances at the National Theatre building, the National Theatre tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom. The theatre has transferred numerous productions to Broadway and toured some as far as China, Australia and New Zealand. However, touring productions to European cities was suspended in February 2021 over concerns about uncertainty over work permits, additional costs and delays because of Brexit. Permission to add the "Royal" prefix to the name of the theatre was given in 1988, but the full title is rarely used. The theatre presents a varied programme, including Shakespeare, other international classic drama, and new plays by contemporary playwrights. Each auditorium in the theatre can run up to three shows in repertoire, thus further widening the number of plays which can be put on during any one season. In June 2009, the theatre began National Theatre Live (NT Live), a programme of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas, first in the United Kingdom and then internationally. The programme began with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. NT Live productions have since been broadcast to over 2,500 venues in 60 countries around the world. In November 2020, National Theatre at Home was announced. It is a video on demand streaming service, specifically created for National Theatre Live recordings. Videos of plays are added every month, and can be "rented" for temporary viewing, or unlimited recordings can be watched through a monthly or yearly subscription programme.The NT had an annual turnover of approximately £105 million in 2015–16, of which earned income made up 75% (58% from ticket sales, 5% from NT Live and Digital, and 12% from commercial revenue such as in the restaurants, bars, bookshop, etc.). Support from Arts Council England provided 17% of income, 1% from Learning and Participation activity, and the remaining 9% came from a mixture of companies, individuals, trusts and foundations.

London Pride is a sculpture by the British artist Frank Dobson located on Queen's Walk on London's South Bank. The sculpture was given Grade II listed status in January 2016. The sculpture depicts two nude women, it sits on a slate platform, with an inscription carved by David Kindersley in front of the piece that reads: 'LONDON PRIDE / FRANK DOBSON CBE RA / 1886–1963 / Commissioned for / THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN 1951 / GIVEN BY MARY DOBSON 1987 / AND PLACED ON THE SOUTH BANK / Assisted generously by Lynton Property & Revisionary Plc and / The Henry Moore Foundation / ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN'. Dobson intended for the bowl in one of the figure's hands to be planted with Saxifraga urbium, commonly known as London Pride.

The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) was a museum of the history of cinema technology and media sited below Waterloo Bridge in London. It was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles. The museum formed part of the cultural complex on the South Bank of the River Thames. MOMI was mainly funded by private subscription and operated by the British Film Institute. MOMI was closed in 1999, initially on a supposedly temporary basis, and with the intention of its being relocated to Jubilee Gardens nearby. Its permanent closure was announced in 2002.

The BFI Future Film Festival is a United Kingdom film festival for young filmmakers (16-25 year-olds), organised by the British Film Institute. Founded in 2008, it takes place over a weekend in February each year, and focuses equally on fiction, animation and documentary.The festival provides emerging filmmakers and "young people who love watching films" with masterclasses, workshops, film screenings from emerging filmmakers and Q&A sessions, all at BFI Southbank in London. The festival is not just for filmmakers. Before the second year of the festival, the BBC's Creative Director, Alan Yentob, said: "It's going to give young people a fantastic opportunity to get involved in something creative and possibly life-changing. Who knows, we may even be able to spot a couple of BAFTA winners of the future." While The Guardian noted that the "festival is aimed at nurturing young film-makers, and there's plenty for them to be inspired by". Later, in 2017, the BFI Film Academy alumni and the Future Film Lab Award winner Charlotte Regan's short film "Standby" was nominated for BAFTAIn 2017, the festival's panel included producer Rebecca O'Brien and cinematographer Ben Davis for the workshop on cinematography and Joe Wicks for Social Media Masterclass. The first screening of the web-series 'Reality' directed by Nathan Bryon was also during the festival.The festival is part of a wider BFI Future Film program which also include a number of other different events aiming to support and help young filmmakers to learn more about the industry: BFI Future Film Academy Future Film Labs Free Screenings + Q&A sessions Future Film Recommends screenings

The London Studios (also known as The South Bank Studios, The London Television Centre, ITV Tower, Kent House and LWT Tower) in Waterloo, Central London was a television studio complex owned by ITV plc and originally built for London Weekend Television. The studios were located in Central London, on the South Bank next to the IBM Building and the Royal National Theatre. The building was set on 2.5 acres of land and was 24 floors high. The London Studios closed on 30 April 2018. Many ITV programmes now come from BBC Studioworks' facility at the former BBC Television Centre, White City, London. The facilities were the main studios for ITV, along with a number of production companies including ITV Studios and Shiver based in Kent House tower, while the studios were home to many entertainment, game and daytime shows. These included Good Morning Britain, The Graham Norton Show, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and The Jonathan Ross Show. The studios were also used for other programmes from various other channels including BBC Television and Channel 4. ITV Creative, which promotes programmes on the ITV network, was also based at the London Studios.

The Aeolian Tower was an art installation on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, consisting of a 15-metre (49 ft) steel tower covered in 1200 wind-powered LEDs. The tower was in place beside the Waterloo Bridge for three days, from November 14–16, 2008. The intent in creating the Aeolian Tower was to prove in a demonstrable and clearly visible to the public fashion how green energy could be used for different purposes such as artistic and design elements.

Cuper's Gardens were 17–18th century pleasure gardens (or tea gardens) on the south side of the River Thames in Lambeth, London. The gardens looked over to Somerset House near Waterloo Bridge, and were centered on what is now the north end of Waterloo Road. In 1643, Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel bought three acres of land which he leased to his gardener Abraham Boydell Cuper. The gardens opened in the 1680s and were named after the original proprietor. They were also known as Cupid's Gardens. In 1686, seven acres of adjoining land was bought from the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, and added to the gardens. A long landing stage in the river known as Cuper's Bridge acted as a popular entrance for the gardens.In 1736, an orchestra was included among the attractions. It also became known for its firework displays. However, it lost its license in 1753 due to the loose morals of its visitors. It remained open as an unlicensed tea garden before finally closing in 1760.

BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute.

BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), is the biggest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe. It takes place every spring in London, England. It began in 1986, as a season of gay and lesbian films at the National Film Theatre for two years, under the title "Gay's Own Pictures", curated by Peter Packer of the Tyneside Cinema. It was renamed the 'London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival' in 1988. Having been a two-week festival for many years, the festival was shortened to a week in 2011, then increased to 10 days in 2012. The events name change to BFI Flare occurred in 2014. On its 30th anniversary, screenings attendance at BFI Flare was up 9% and box-office results surpassed the previous, record-breaking year. Audiences at all events and screenings over the eleven-day festival totalled 25,623 in 2016. Additional programming under the BFI Flare tag is available at throughout the year.Organised and run by the British Film Institute, all BFI Flare screenings take place in the BFI Southbank. In 2014 the festival consisted of several sections or categories of films; hearts, bodies, minds. Subsequent years have included additional categories.

The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shorts from approximately 50 countries.

The Jubilee Walkway is an official walking route in London. It was originally opened as the Silver Jubilee Walkway to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's accession; the Queen herself opened it on 9 June 1977 during her silver jubilee celebrations. The intention was to connect many of London's major tourist attractions and it is now one of seven such walks within the Mayor of London's strategic walking routes. Its length is 15 miles. The Jubilee Walkway Trust was set up in 1978 to look after the trail, in collaboration with local authorities. On 24 October 2002, during the Queen's golden jubilee, the renamed Jubilee Walkway (the word Silver was dropped as appropriate) reopened after refurbishment and a new spur walk was opened in 2003, called the Camden loop, which took walkers into north-west London. The Jubilee Walkway can be divided into five smaller loop walks: the Western loop, Eastern loop, City loop, Camden loop and Jubilee loop.

The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall/Purcell Room) and also the National Theatre and BFI Southbank repertory cinema. Following a rebranding of the South Bank Centre to Southbank Centre in early 2007, the Hayward Gallery was known as the Hayward until early 2011.