LONDON.- Powell and Pressburger’s visually ravishing masterpiece, The Red Shoes (1948) celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale, it tells the story of a young woman whose desire is to become a leading dancer and for whom art is more important than life itself. Victoria Page (played by real-life prima ballerina Moira Shearer) secures a transformative role at the Ballet Lermontov, that of a girl beguiled by a pair of magic red slippers. Gradually, the boundaries between fact and fiction blur as Page’s life intertwines with the feverish part she dances and she finds herself driven to breaking point. From 10 November to 7 January 2024, BFI Southbank presents The Red Shoes: Beyond the Mirror, this dazzling, free exhibition follows 21 year-old Moira Shearer’s personal journey through the production of The Red Shoes, as well as exploring the lasting legacy of the most iconic dance film of all time.

Encompassing hand-illustrated sketches and designs, photography, poster art, ephemera, costumes and video installations, the exhibition draws on a wealth of material preserved by the BFI National Archive, including around 100 unseen costume and production designs for The Red Shoes by Hein Heckroth and Ivor Beddoes, treatments, scripts, behind the scenes photographs, location and publicity press shots and posters, including the previously . These items are being presented alongside key loans, highlights include:

• two pairs of Moira Shearer’s iconic red ballet shoes featured in the film, loaned to the BFI by the Martin Scorsese Collection and The Film and TV Charity

• personal items from Moira Shearer’s family estate including The Red Shoes birthday card made for Moira Shearer, signed by The Archers cast and crew during the production of the film designed by Hein Heckroth

• personal photos of a young Moira Shearer as a dancer

• a dress worn by Moira Shearer around the time of the European publicity tour for The Red Shoes.

• A wealth of previously unseen hand-illustrated original production and costume designs, realised and unrealised, for The Red Shoes, THE TALES OF HOFFMANN and PEEPING TOM by Hein Heckroth and Ivor Beddoes, including a new Heckroth acquisition to the BFI National Archive, “The Design for The Wall” from THE RED SHOES.

• Michael Powell’s viewfinder and 16mm Camera used in PEEPING TOM.

• a letter written in 1989 from Michael Powell to Kate Bush.

There are also costumes and props from Matthew Bourne’s 2016 ballet adaptation and projections that bring the film spellbindingly into the space. A new installation created by UK video artist Michelle Williams Gamaker, OBERON (2023) responds to the casting of Merle Oberon in the unrealised SHE HAD TO DANCE (1939), GB Stern’s very early version of THE RED SHOES, as represented through items in the BFI National Archive collection. In addition the exhibition also includes behind the scenes publicity photographs by Guido Harai for the Kate Bush self-directed featurette, THE LINE, THE CROSS AND THE CURVE (1993) to tie in with her iconic album inspired by The Red Shoes.

The Red Shoes: Beyond the Mirror is co-curated by Claire Smith and Sue Prichard and designed by Simon Costin.

Claire Smith, BFI National Archive Senior Curator said, ”We’re thrilled to pull back the curtain on what makes THE RED SHOES such a defining piece of filmmaking. Audiences can accompany Moira Shearer as she dons the beguiling red slippers, discovering the magical and painterly realms of Powell and Pressburger’s cinema. With a greater range of material from the BFI National Archive’s collections made accessible than ever before, and through the generosity of lenders, collaborators, supporters and funders, we hope that audiences will leave with the same lingering enchantment that the film evokes.”