James joined the curatorial team as senior curator of fiction in 2021, following many years as features editor at Sight & Sound magazine. While at Sight & Sound, he wrote on a wide range of cinema: contemporary and historical, British and international.
Beyond Sight & Sound, James also worked as special projects editor, developing a number of major projects. He has been series editor of the BFI Compendium book series, whose titles include 39 Steps to the Genius of Hitchcock (2012), Gothic: The Dark Heart of Film (2013) and Electric Shadows: The History of Chinese Cinema (2014). He is on the editorial boards of both the BFI Classics and British Screen Stories book series.
He is regular programmer of BFI Southbank’s biannual Deep Focus film seasons, which have included focuses on pre-Code Hollywood, psychological Westerns, Method acting, US cinema of the 1980s, films by Black women directors, Golden Age Japanese Melodama and French Fantastique cinema. He has also been a contributing programmer to several of the BFI’s major projects, including as co-programmer of 2021’s major Japanese cinema season.
Articles by James Bell
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Our inaugural critics’ poll of the top ten television series of 2019 offers a tantalising mix of comedy, horror and drama – and holds up a mirror to our age. See how 37 television critics judged the year, including Molly Haskell’s extended take on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag.
Monday, January 6, 2020
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Films for film’s sake: Tromsø 2015
James Bell reports on how the ‘Paris of the north’ flies the flag for cinema in the Arctic circle.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
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From the Magazine
Birth of the Method: the revolution in American acting
Foster Hirsch on the history of the revolution in American acting, plus James Bell’s selection of 12 ‘Method’ classics.
Friday, October 31, 2014
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From the Magazine
Critics’ 50 Greatest Documentaries of All Time
The greatest documentaries as nominated by 237 critics, curators and academics.
Friday, August 1, 2014
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Our January issue looks back at the year in cinema with the help of over one hundred international critics, curators and academics. As a preview, here’s our voters’ top ten, plus in-house selections and highlights.
Monday, November 25, 2013
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From the Magazine
James Bell raises a toast to Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck in a pair of Billy Wilder classics from the 1940s.
Friday, June 8, 2012
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From the Magazine
In a lonely place: North Korea’s Pyongyang International Film Festival
What films are you allowed to see in North Korea, the world’s most secretive country? James Bell hands in his mobile phone and reports from the Pyongyang International Film Festival.
Friday, February 10, 2012
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23 critics and curators choose their releases – and rediscoveries – of the year.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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Our writers tally their best discoveries, on- and off-screen moments and personal encounters of the festival.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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James Bell on the former child star who became one of Japan’s most beloved leading ladies.
Friday, February 11, 2011
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Sight & Sound magazine
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Reviews, interviews and features from the international film magazine.
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