Katy McGahan

Katy worked at the BFI from 2001 to 2016, serving since 2008 as a non-fiction curator specialising in British documentary film from the 1920s to the present. Other areas of specialism include the history of official films, in particular the work of the Central Office of Information from 1946 to its closure in 2012; films used as evidence in Courts of Trial, and the history of health issues on film: she produced the BFI DVD release The Joy of Sex Education (2008).

Katy contributed chapters to the anthologies Shadows of Progress: Documentary Films of Post-War Britain (Palgrave/BFI, 2010), and Ealing Revisited (Palgrave/BFI, 2012). She wrote short essays for a number of BFI DVD booklets, and has been a prolific contributor to BFI digital platforms, including BFI Screenonline, the BFI Mediatheques, BFI InView and BFI Player, where she was the lead curator for the highly successful Britain on Film project.

Articles by Katy McGahan

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10 great but forgotten TV documentaries of the 1950s and 60s

Millions watched them on TV at the time, but these pioneering documentaries have hardly been seen since. Now’s the time for their rediscovery.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Lists
From the Magazine

The essay film

Andrew Tracy explores the characteristics that have come to define this most elastic of forms, while eight more contributors highlight a dozen influential milestone essay films, from Jean Vigo to Chris Marker.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Deep Focus
Sheffield stoked by Jarvis Cocker and The Big Melt

Jarvis Cocker led a blazing live soundtrack to BFI archive footage of our steelmaking past on the opening night of Sheffield Doc/Fest 2013.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Features
From the Magazine

Film of the week: The House I Live In

‘Underclass loses drugs war’, finds Eugene Jarecki’s sharp and sweeping exposé of the subject, a heartfelt mix of the personal and political.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Reviews and recommendations