Jesse Leslie Hardcastle OBE (8 December 1926 – 14 March 2023) was a British arts administrator who was controller of the British Film Institute's (BFI) National Film Theatre (NFT) complex on London's South Bank from its early beginnings through to his retirement in the mid 1990s.
[1] After service in the Royal Navy, he worked his way through the ranks of the BFI and led the NFT through its pioneering days including the founding of the London Film Festival (LFF) in 1957, the setting up of a second onsite screen (NFT2), along with a restaurant.
[citation needed] In the 1980s, Hardcastle together with David Francis of the National Film Archive led the development of the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI), also on the South Bank.
[citation needed] Hardcastle was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1974 Birthday Honours.
Having retired completely from the BFI Southbank, Hardcastle became a consultant and eventually a governor of the British Film Institute.