Derek Jacobi to unveil blue plaque at famous Rotherhithe Picture Research Library and film studio

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Communities

Renowned English actors Miriam Margolyes and Derek Jacobi (pictured) will unveil a Southwark Blue Plaque at the Rotherhithe Picture Research Library and Sands Films Studio on Friday.

Opened in 1976, the library and film studio in St Marychurch Street, Rotherhithe, have become an internationally recognised period costume house, studio location and research resource.

Manager Oliver Stockman said the library and studio have been involved with many famous productions.

“We are delighted to receive this recognition from Southwark Council’s Blue Plaque scheme," he said.

“Over the years the library and studio have been involved with many productions, from Death on the Nile, The Butterfly Effect, Pride and Prejudice, The Other Boleyn Girl, to our own productions of Little Dorrit and As You Like It.

“In 2001 the Sands Films production of ‘The Children’s Midsummer Night Dream’ involved 364 children from eight local schools in a brilliant feature film production of Shakespeare’s play.”

Councillor Lewis Robinson, Southwark Council’s Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, said the achievements of the library and studio were far reaching:

“The sheer quality of the research library and studio have put this local facility on the international film makers’ map.

“But despite having an international reputation, the library and studio are very much at the heart of the local landscape, and are an attraction for local residents, historians and film buffs like myself.”

Southwark Council's Blue Plaques scheme, introduced in 2002, gives residents and visitors the chance to decide which local icons, past and present, they want to see remembered with a plaque.

Plaques have been put up across the borough to celebrate luminaries such as Michael Caine, Sam Wanamaker (the founder of Shakespeare's Globe), Charles Dickens and, more recently, Sir Henry Cooper.