Discover Movies

With footage shot deep within the mine, this is an account of life of an English mining town and what it is like to work below ground as told by the miners', and their wives' within their homes.

an animated character of the superhero named Aardman going to the hole

A heavy S&M film which features scenes of murder and whipping in a torture chamber

The Scottish poet discusses his work with his fellow Scottish writer Iain Crichton Smith.

An animated film by the South Shields film maker Sheila Graber in which the boy and his cat feature in a set of adventures inspired by the lyrics of some well-known songs the boy sings. This film is a follow up to her earlier film entitled the Boy and the Cat.

An interview with the Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid.

An extended humorous public information film (lasting around fifteen minutes) narrated by Richard Wattis.

A BAFTA award nominated documentary about the new label 'hazchem' and how it works.

Liza, a schoolgirl, meets and falls in love with her classmate's brother, Paul. When she discovers she is pregnant, they each must consider the consequences as outlined by their respective parents.

An experimental film by Aardman's Nick Park which combines animated sketches and live-action footage of rain and hallways. Produced during his time at Sheffield Polytechnic.

A high speed Inter-City train is the star of this impressionist film in which picture and music are brought together to enhance the mood and rhythm of the subject and hail the arrival of 125mph regular passenger services. With specially composed music by David Gow and no commentary, Overture: One-Two-Five was the last complete production to be shot on 35mm film by British Transport Films. It was produced to mark the introduction of the new Inter-City 125 High Speed Train services between Paddington and Bristol. One of the last big budget productions, it was treated to a coat of Technicolor and a theatrical cinema release. It also marked the beginning of the slow decline of BTF which culminated in its closure. With the abandoning of support features and shorts at cinemas in the late 1970s and early 1980s, most of the unit’s films after 1978 were made primarily for internal use.

A BAFTA award winning documentary on the basic principles and applications of hydrostatics.

A BAFTA award winning documentary describing the various types of water-based fluids and neat cutting oils, their composition and qualities and explains how they perform their function.

Documentary drama based on a true story, highlighting the difficulties faced by a young deaf woman, Sandra, whose attempts to use sign language are prevented in a time when deaf people were encouraged to lip read and speak. Unable to communicate adequately, Sandra becomes a target for abusive men.

A watchmaker finds his livelihood is threatened by cheaply imported digital watches.

London is cut up and manipulated in this highly structured, emotionally compelling piece about the UK's capital city and its capacity to alienate and atomise people. Images printed using custom-made equipment at the London Filmmakers' Co-op stagger forward and back in precise rhythms and establish both a spatial and emotional map of the various night-time locations seen here.

The Scottish writer Eric Linklater discusses his work.

In 1979 filmmaker John Samson went on the road with a 22-year-old Eric Bristow, one of the rising stars of British darts. This film depicts Bristow between major competitions as he travels around the pubs and working men's clubs of Britain, challenging the local heroes and playing exhibition matches. Bristow takes on all-comers and breezily faces down a belligerent local radio host.

Compilation film specifically designed to commemorate the Foundation 21st birthday. Compiled from: SCRAMBLE; THE MAGICIAN; COUNT DOWN TO DANGER; ALL AT SEA; ALI AND THE CAMEL

Animated public information film. A Fairy Godmother grants a girl the man of her dreams – or is he? The girl’s thoughts are voiced by Carol Hawkins, and the voices of ‘Mike’, the fairy godmother, ‘Dave’ and the closing narration are all Peter Hawkins.

This film by John Jeremy grew from photographs and field recordings made by Paul Oliver on a journey through the South in 1960. Oliver, a British architectural historian who devoted years to researching African American blues, memorialized the journey also in his 1963 book Conversation with the Blues. The film includes the voices and music of Blind James Brewer, James “Butch” Cage, Gus Cannon, Walter Davis, Blind Arvella Gray, Sam “Lightnin” Hopkins, James “Stump” Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, J. B. Lenoir, Charles Love, “Little Brother” Montgomery, James Oden, Edwin Buster Pickens, Sam Price, Robert Curtis Smith, Otis Span, Willie Thomas, Henry Townsend, Wade Walton, and others unidentified.

The story of an abandoned baby grey squirrel found by chance in the Oxfordshire countryside.

Part of BFI collection "Police and Thieves."

The story of an aspiring actor's adventures around the Scottish Borders and northern England with a travelling theatre group.

“Story of a streetwise black teenager who gives his views on life and on living in Deptford, London.” - BFI.

A simple gesture, introduced in the very title of the work, is repeated with slight variations – the glass is half filled, the content overflows, the glass breaks, the milk spills on the table – and constitutes the film’s only action. Lamelas rejects any type of narration or human presence, and the filmic code – reduced and dissected – comprises the only argument.

A tour of the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland with local art gallery director Richard Demarco.

Ian Dury & The Blockheads in concert at Queen's University, Belfast. 3rd February, 1979. * Setlist: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll / I’m Partial to Your Abracadabra / Clevor Trevor / This Is What We Find / Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards / Sweet Gene Vincent / What A Waste / Blockheads

A musical illustration of life, where road traffic chaos breeds anger and frustration, but the rail network is fast, smooth and relaxing.

A Duologue - TV play featuring Edward Woodward and Warren Mitchell

A quick-fire cartoon day in the life of a news crew, from scoop to broadcast.

Peter Gidal's 'Upside Down Feature' is one of the most important films to have been made in this country. It makes a complex and original foray into the nature of film, and, by extension, confronts its audience with a thorough reappraisal of its ways of dealing with film. I found the film exhilarating, but it's unfortunately necessary to add a rider that if you're unused to this type of film, expecting anything remotely similar to what the Big Boys from Wardour St dish you up. then you're in for a major piece of culture-shock which could mean anger, frustration and resentment.

The year is 1952. Dilemma of a Southend family when marriage promises to take the eldest daughter to Mau Mau-racked Kenya.

Today, Henry's usually dull journey to work is eventful enough to catapult him into the headlines.

The attractions of the Scottish city of Aberdeen and the surrounding area.

Examines the plight of battered wives. In particular, looks at the experiences of a group of women who with their children were receiving temporary refuge in a house run - without official help - by a woman from Chiswick Women's Aid.

While on a country walk, Joe and Petunia stop for a rest and discuss their walk, with Joe throwing rocks from a wall nearby: They have left tracks all through a corn field, have released some cows through a gate Joe opened, marked "Private" and their dog is now chasing sheep in the field behind them. Just then, one of the stones Joe throws shatters a bottle, much to his delight. They then see a farmer with a purple face (which they attribute to "all that country air") and think he is doing a country dance as he jumps up and down in fury. Petunia remarks that he doesn't look friendly (to which Joe says "Can't be anything we've done"), and they leave. The farmer looks out at the trail of damage they have left, and sighs "When folk go out to the country, why oh why can't they follow The Country Code?

An innocent game during an opulent weekend at a Scottish castle annoys the sinister housekeeper and causes several family skeletons to rattle in their cupboards.

Structuralist film collage consisting of 8mm film "notes" printed directly on 16mm stock. The images include people and landscapes and the technical difference between the two film formats are emphasised by the presence of perforations, Kodak company marking, spacing, and leader.

A rare documentary about witchcraft, shown on the BBC in the early 1970s.

The world as seen through the eyes of a robin.

Play by Arthur Hopcraft about Christmas in a Northern town, and the relationship within a family.

An American advertising tycoon chooses a weekend therapy clinic as the ideal place in which to assess the various candidates for the vice-presidency of his firm.

An experimental, autobiographical documentary presented by Alan Garner

Improvements in housing in the city of Glasgow, Scotland.

This programme tells the story of the private steam railway company the Strathspey Railway, which was engineered and run by a group of rail enthusiasts in Scotland.Through the use of restored locomotives the company was started purely to preserve steam passenger trains, as their fading presence across British rail networks, due to the introduction of diesel engines, was keenly felt among steam enthusiasts.

A tour of the Scottish new town of East Kilbride.

. . . is not to remember a time before the troubles. To find out what life is like for some of the seven-year-olds in Belfast, tonight’s documentary looks closely at the lives of six children. (TV Times)

Quiet Devonshire school girl Joanna's claim that she saw a tiger in Barrow Woods soon takes hold, in her home, at school and in the national press.

A portrait of the Scottish town of Greenock.

Documentary from British Transport Films

Psychological drama about a British patrol in the Burmese jungle who fall out among themselves.

For five years now, the children of Northern Ireland's most troubled areas have grown up on the battlefield of guerrilla warfare. What is the effect on their growing minds? This is a casebook of children who live in the fear of sudden death, who believe they hate, some of whom are trained and prepared to kill. The story is told through their songs, their games, their paintings. It's told in their words, and the words of adults mostly concerned with children - parents, teachers, doctors and the Army for whom the children are becoming a tragic, insuperable problem. When the Troubles stop, will the troubles end for these children? We don' know the answers, because there has never been a war, never a casebook quite like this one. (Radio Times, 1974)

Thrown out of the house by her uncle, Aksinya marries her lover, a sexton, and five months later gives birth to a son, Coilin.

Delger, "the man who gets things done", finds himself involved in London's vice world, in between sleeping with his two neighbours Elaine and Wendy, a masseuse who "can't give a man a massage without turning him on".

“This film was made by superimposing in the camera six takes of myself playing the flute in six different positions around a circle. With each shot I randomly began playing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. The resulting film shows a unique rendition of this classic round.” - Jenny Okun

A pastel animation produced by Sheila Graber based on the Victorian ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. With commentary by Francis Carr the film loosely tells the Arthurian legend of Elaine of Astolat, a woman living in isolation inside a tower who sees the world through the reflections in a mirror.

BRIDGE FARM is a 2 screen film made on a farm in Suffolk in 1979. Two 16mm cameras are placed adjacent to each other and framed to create one continuous panoramic field of vision.

Early film from Mike Newell

A film discussing the various forms of energy used by man.