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From Runes to Ruins is the first ever documentary film about Anglo-Saxon paganism. All over Britain there are people whose lives are influenced by the largely forgotten culture of the Anglo-Saxon barbarians who founded England. Thomas Rowsell reveals a forgotten aspect of English history that many are oblivious to, by uncovering paganism in runes and ruins.
An empty house full of shadows, spirits are projected by the blue light of the television. echoes of violence and solitude fill the dark corners of an empty city. the countryside offers no comfort- the rivers are swollen and brown, the air is cold and grey, trees are sharp and barren of leaves. Ancient spirits and memories of evil are buried below the surface of the fields. A world haunted by past lives trying to claw their way back
A man living in a black and white world questions reality after receiving a red letter.
Film played at Robert Owen’s School for Children's AV Theatre in New Lanark, set in the year 2200. Time-traveller Harmony tells the story of New Lanark.
When Arthur, the son of a Duke, is forced into an arranged marriage, he has to decide whether he will do as his father commands or risk everything
A trip through a Medieval monastery and into rural Poland. Religious identity and nationality are put into question following both World Wars.
As archaeologists excavate a mass grave of British sailors, Sam Willis explores Antigua's ruins and sees how the Caribbean's sugar islands were a kind of hell in Nelson's time.
Documentary seeks to answer why the majority of the German people were so willing to follow Hitler, even as he led them into war.
A British Intelligence Officer known as Thomas Edward Lawrence conducted daring raids during World War I which made him a legend. But how did this man become the renowned ‘Lawrence of Arabia?’ This fascinating history documentary explores the character behind the man and tries to explain how he came to lead a small band of Arab fighters against the fourth largest army in the world.
Elsie Inglis and the work of the Scottish Women's Hospitals (SWH) are captivating. Elsie and the other women did not conform to the stereotype of women in war. They were operating close to the fighting on both the Western Front and in the Balkans. Also, the SWH's were run entirely and predominantly staffed by women. This meant that there were not only women doctors, rare enough in the early twentieth century but like Elsie, women surgeons.
An engrossing look at the political drama and the stories of real lives and fortunes that are hidden within the parchment of England's earliest surviving public record - the Domesday Book.
Part road trip, part adventure story, FOLLOWING THE NINTH is an inspirational film about Beethoven's Choral Symphony, its majestic power to liberate us, to shield us against suffering, to provide hope and resilience during dark times. Filmed on five continents and in 12 countries, FOLLOWING THE NINTH is the story of four lives that have been transformed and repaired by the music, expressed most vividly in the prophecy of the Ode to Joy: “Alle Menschen werden Brüder”(All Men Will Be Brothers).
Discover the story behind the infamous Rivonia Trial, where Mandela and his co-defendants fought for the freedom of South Africa, in this new film. Directed by former high court judge Sir Nick Stadlen, the film follows the 10 leading opponents of apartheid and their lawyers and supporters through the trial. It is an inspiring story of immense courage and self-sacrifice on the part of a small group of multiracial idealists. Though the defendants were saved from the death penalty, eight of the ten were sentenced to life imprisonment, Mandela among them. When Mandela was released 27 years later, he had a vision of multiracial democracy for South Africa.
An experiment in style over substance. It attempts to present the actual medium of film as the focus as opposed to the bland subject matter. The film looks to gain the viewers interest by drawing attention to the fact they are watching a film. It is a comment on the quick cutting and style prevalent in popular film.
Be prepared to be amazed by the best dinosaur video of all time - from the Natural History Museum, of course. This production uses advanced techniques, pioneered in movies such as Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park, to bring to life the most exciting creatures ever to roam the earth.
This personal film is made up of landscape photos from the archive of the director's father, through which he returns to his life while exploring the material possibilities for creating "landscapes": the film itself is exposed to the effects of yeast, salt, leaves and seaweed. By reacting with the film emulsion, each foreign element creates a new and different image quality, while the noise on the soundtrack underscores the fragility of incomplete memories.
The Battle of the Somme has a particular place in British social history. The opening day of the campaign on the 1st July 1916 is remembered as the worst day in British military history. As the mainly untried recruits of Kitchener's New Army went over the top they were annihilated by the waiting Germans. There were more than 60,000 casualties, nearly 20,000 of them dead. It was a campaign that began in the sweltering heat of summer and ended four and a half months later, bogged down in a sea of mud. This programme details the opening phase of the battle and explains why so many young men volunteered. As the battle ground on through the summer the losses among the troops became critical. This programme charts the final stages of the battle as the British army slogged its way across the devastated ground. Only a few miles had been gained for the loss of untold thousands of lives.
Documentary about a Texan family who exercised a new state right to watch the execution of the man who brutally killed two of their children.
For two centuries, the Sycamore Gap tree stood as an iconic sentinel along Hadrian's Wall, shaping the landscape and lives of Northumberland. Its sudden destruction triggered an international outpouring of grief. This film examines the tree's cultural and emotional significance through local voices, highlighting the enduring power of history in our present.
Told through the eyes of a daring modern day adventurer, this is the story of a unique chapter in the history of one of the world's greatest super-powers. This program chronicles the history of the great Ming Dynasty treasure ships. Built in the early 15th century these ships gave China the capability of exploring and perhaps conquering the world.
Farang is an artists' moving image work that traces a semi-fictional journey across Iran.
With Queen Elizabeth II about to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history, this documentary compares the lives and the reigns of two extraordinary women.
An Anglo Saxon Horror Story
Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer, Protest, Peace is a new work by Languid Hands that examines Black Testimony as obscured, ignored and undermined. Drawing on archival imagery, Black geographies, and the dying declarations of Black Martyrs, it explores the complexities of truth, empathy, justice, the law, life and death for the Black Mass.
Rob Bell examines Haslar a Military Hospital created to treat the wounded from overseas military actions.
The 1960s promised great things for Britain and the world. It was a period of optimism, idealism and limitless possibilities. Newsreels captured the development of a new kind of culture and lifestyle during the decade. Some of the optimism of the early 60s had faded by the end of the decade, but the period still saw remarkable progress in medicine, science, industry - as well as music, fashion and civil liberties.
With unique access to the Forbidden City, this documentary reveals the spectacular history of the world's largest palace, and the secrets of its astonishing design
The fascinating story of Ursula Kuczynski, a Jewish German mother, refugee, and spy, who stole Britain's atomic secrets and gave them to the Soviets.
England, 1002AD. Mere moments after massacring a host of Vikings, a Saxon tries to justify his blood lust, with chilling consequences.
A four-month project commissioned by The Customs House involving local poet and playwright Tom Kelly, local filmmaker Andrew Hagan, and the team from The Customs House. The project documented men's memories of life working on or near the River Tyne and the changes they've seen over the years.
The extraordinary story of how a mysterious gem in one of Tutankhamun's necklaces led to the discovery of a dramatic new cosmic threat.
A businessman who studies witchcraft as a hobby and a businesswoman who heads a coven are interviewed about their beliefs and practices. Shows the initiation of new members into a coven and the attempt by a "circle" to heal a member.
Architectural historian Jon Cannon goes in search of the clues that shed light on how our medieval forebears were able to build the wonders of their world.
This beautiful short, commissioned by UCLan’s Creative Innovation Zone, is an intricate hand-drawn journey through the life of a local activist, George Dewhurst. An ordinary working man from Blackburn, George was charged with High Treason, shortly after The Peterloo Massacre in August 1819, for speaking at a gathering of workers in Burnley. Narrated by one of George's descendants, 8-year-old Monty Speed, this beautiful animated montage depicts events in George's life in the year 1819, following a quest by descendants to uncover his grave and raise awareness of his story.
A wandering monk must deliver a holy relic to its rightful place of worship, all the while evading nefarious forces.
It's captivated us for over 2000 years, but did it really exist? Dan Snow travels to Greece to discover if there is any truth in this tale of the legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean that supposedly disappeared beneath the waves. He investigates real ancient cities that were destroyed by earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis - could these have inspired the story of Atlantis?
An exploration of the many characters and life of songman- David Bowie.
An epic re-telling of the Peterloo Massacre and the government's Six Acts of 1819.
When hundreds of letters from members serving in the First World War are discovered in the roof of The Mildmay working men's club in London, two amateur archivists set out to solve the mysteries of the men who wrote them and the remarkable man they were all writing to.
A profile from 1972 of celebrated Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In this film he talks about his uncompromising life and the ideas and circumstances that have shaped its progress.
A documentary about the changing face of the fans of Doctor Who, the hit BBC science fiction drama series.
An overview of the racing history of Jaguar Cars prepared by the Jaguar Daimler Trust.
Shot in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, this documentary follows a young sex worker in a Beijing massage parlour. Aifeng, like so many other migrant workers in modern China, is struggling to support her family back home. When the shop is forced to close and she loses her job, Aifeng faces her biggest challenge yet.
Medievalist Dr Stephen Baxter takes a fresh look at the Middle Ages through the eyes of children. At a time when half the population was under 18 he argues that, although they had to grow up quickly and take on adult responsibility early, the experience of childhood could also be richly rewarding.
Following the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) recommendation to journey to three mosques - (in Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem), this film sets out in the company of British bass player Danny ‘Hamza’ Thompson to discover the reasons why the last of these three holds such an important place in the hearts of Muslims everywhere.
From a steamboat in a cornfield to the true story behind Hurricane Katrina's floods, new discoveries reveal how the Mississippi river shaped America.
Dennis Wilson was the drummer in the Beach Boys. And he was the real Beach Boy. In a band of geeks who sang about surfing, cars and girls, Dennis was the only one who surfed, the one who drove hot rod cars in competition and the one who got all the girls.
In Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death, historian and author Dr. Helen Castor (She-Wolves: England's Early Queens) examines how the people of the Middle Ages handled three of life's great rites of passage birth, marriage, and death. Why were physicians of no help to women enduring the pains of labor and the dangers of childbirth? Why were newly married couples "put to bed" by the priest on their wedding night? What did it mean to "die well" and why was death such a communal affair, both before and after it happened?
Part of Halas and Bachelor's unfinished "Know your Europeans" series by the late John Halas. The film takes an irreverent, funny and - at times downright bizarre look at German history.
VHS documentary on the history of Bristol
This programme captures the climax of the procession taking Richard III’s remains to Leicester Cathedral, and asks leading historians and other experts what his place in British history should now be.
Algren and no De Beauvoir makes Nelson a sad boy in these letters from America. An affair to remember, with distance – initially – no object (plane mailing in fact) in these continental correspondences, monochrome messages that style the times and texts of greats.
Joyous scenes in Redruth, Cornwall at the wedding of a Nigerian couple in 1964 - who incorporate both British and traditional attire into the day's festivities.
Hidden is a short period drama that explores World War II from the perspective of a young Jewish girl, Esther, who lost her father to Holocaust. Years later, with a heavy heart she reveals the truth about the horrifying events of the past, and tells the stories of those who never had a chance to share them.
How should we remember catastrophic events? And what remains in people’s memory when their stories are silenced? All the Dreams We Dream is a hand-drawn animation based on the memories of those who endured famine in Qazaqstan in the 1930s. Based on two memoirs retold by poet Gafu Kairbekov, it seeks to explore questions of empathy and fear, asking how stories of violence and pain should be recounted in the modern age.
COVID-19 is far from the first pandemic to wreak havoc in the world. A long line of infectious diseases have devastated and in some cases destroyed entire societies. This documentary examines the causes of epidemics. It also sheds a light on the impact infectious diseases have had on politics and societal change. Today, the world is facing COVID-19. Measures such as quarantine and lockdowns are being rolled out in an effort to control the spread of the virus; and some are questioning how effective they are. Over the centuries, scientists managed to develop treatments and medicines to help control or even eradicate infectious diseases. Virologists are facing that task again with the coronavirus, as the world frantically searches for ways to overcome a pandemic which threatens our modern way of life.
The story of Oliver Cromwell's head is perhaps the most bizarre, yet least well known, of all tales from English history. From regal burial to exhumation and decapitation, this relic of our only non-royal ruler has travelled a most peculiar path. It has been a gruesome warning to traitors, a secret prize for a soldier, an attraction at an 18th-century peep show, and an object of veneration and derision until it was finally laid to rest in a secret ceremony. CROMWELL'S HEAD, is a one-hour documentary, telling the full story of this extraordinary artifact. CROMWELL'S HEAD unravels a mystery and brings to light a variety of strange tales. By looking at the passions, public and private, aroused by Cromwell and his head, it illuminates how British attitudes to monarchy, democracy and radicalism were formed - and how they have changed, since our civil war over 350 years ago
A fascinating look at the inner workings of some of the most secure prisons in the world. From a bomb proof jail in Maryland to Alcatraz and the Tower of London.