We would like to wish a very happy 90th birthday to our principal donor and honorary patron Peter Jewell! Peter was Bill Douglas's best friend and together they built an amazing collection of artefacts on cinema and optical media, going back to the 17th century. After Bill's untimely death Peter very generously donated the collection to the University to found the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, which opened its doors to the public in 1997. Since then he has contined to support the museum in many different ways, both through the Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Fund and by continuing to collect and donate items to add to the collection, which has grown through him and many other donors to over 90,000 items.
Peter says; 'Bill and I put together a collection that told the story of moving images over 300 years. We always wanted to share it with others because we knew that people would feel the same wonder and excitement that we did. I'm proud that The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum gives the public the opportunity to discover the magic of the moving image, and I know that Bill would have been absolutely delighted too. The museum continues to go from strength to strength and I'd like to thank Phil, Matt and the team for all their hard work'.
Peter adds; 'It's also given me great pleasure that more and more people have discovered Bill's films and that his talent is recognised and celebrated more than ever before, especially by young filmmakers'.
Thank you Peter for your wonderful gift of the collection and for all your support and enthusiasm for the museum over the years. Congratulations on your 90th birthday!
The Picture: The photograph of Peter in our lower gallery was taken by and is copyright to Juliana Malucelli. It was taken by Juliana in our lower gallery in October 2023 in a photo session with her partner David Appleby. David was the stills photographer on the set of Bill Douglas's film Comrades and he took the colour image of Bill in his scarf in 1986. As you can see the scarf still exists and we hold it in Bill's working papers at the museum.