The sun may have been creeping out from behind the clouds recently but with MP scandals, the recession and the frosty seasonal chill, this has been the winter of discontent. Film has often been seen as a form of escapism and perhaps the ultimate escapist tale, Alice In Wonderland, returned to cinemas last week.

An exhibition showcasing a variety of contributions from a number of directors is to be held over the first two weeks of March, celebrating one of cinema’s most iconic stories. Fresh from a titanic fight between Disney and Odeon, Alice In Wonderland will re-establish itself as one of the pioneering franchises in the history of cinema with its latest incarnation, Tim Burton’s 3D spectacular.

Its first big screen appearance was Hepworth studios’ 1903 adaptation of Lewis Caroll’s original tale. Almost confined to the realms of history, the film has been restored by the British Film Institute using the last remaining, incomplete print and can be seen on their website (http://www.bfi.org.uk/nftva/work/alice.html).

The film itself spends a lot of time showing Alice getting bigger and smaller, using some impressive camera trickery considering the production is now well over a century old.

Briony Dixon, Curator of Silent Film at the BFI said: "For the actual restoration process, we took the original film and scanned it at about twice the resolution of a high-definition television.”

Taking the record for the longest film produced in England at the time, audiences had to sit for a staggering 12 minutes until the end credits. In today’s cinemas of course that amount of time would not even cover the trailers before Tim Burton’s feature starts, which stands as one of the first made-for-3D films following the success of James Cameron’s Avatar.

Also on the exhibition schedule is a dreamlike Anglo-French adaptation courtesy of Dallas Bower, whose use of stop motion animation to create Wonderland and its melting pot of characters was also ahead of its time. The film was made in 1949- long before stop motion became widespread in the 60’s.

Not forgetting that, despite being a childlike fairytale, Alice In Wonderland has many darker interpretations, audiences at the exhibition will also be able to see Dennis Potter’s Dreamchild (pictured above). Based on an earlier TV drama of his, Potter delivers a nightmarish adaptation as an elderly Alice recalls her relationship as a 10 year old with the shy, stuttering Charles Dodgson. The film seems particularly relevant in today’s climate of social paranoia, with regular headlines written about older men courting young children.

Also included in the BFI programme is Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer’s 1988 film Alice. Created in a deliberately crude style with menacing designs lending the film a pervading sense of unease and dread.

The BFI’s monthly strand of screenings and workshops for 11-25 year olds, Future Film, will also be hosting the Mad Hatter’s film school, giving enthusiasts the chance to interact and create parts of the 1903 Hepworth version- from the images to the soundtrack. In the midst of all this 3D fantasy it is interesting to see a concept where the public will actually be able to reach out and touch images on screen rather than simply pretending to do so.

Alice’s may be a story with many interpretations, but the one thing that remains constant is each director’s will to use challenging techniques to create visuals that grab viewer attention. In the latest example 3D technology seems the perfect platform to create a Wonderland without boundaries, and Burton has the pedigree in fantasy to achieve just that.

The Alice In Wonderland exhibition will be running from 5 March - 17 March

The Mad Hatter’s Workshop will be held Saturday 13 March 11:00-18:00

Details of all the events can be seen here:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/events/alice_in_wonderland