Lessons from the Air

Lessons from the Air 1943

1

Behind-the-scenes documentary about the making and broadcasting of pedagogical radio shows on the BBC.

1943

Dear Mr Shakespeare: Shakespeare Lives

Dear Mr Shakespeare: Shakespeare Lives 2016

7.00

An evocative and imaginative exploration of the racial tensions in Othello and how the themes in Shakespeare's play still resonate today.

2016

The Life Cycle of the Pin Mould

The Life Cycle of the Pin Mould 1943

1

Part of the Junior Biology series, this study of pin mould is aided by diagrammatic, time-lapse, and microscopic footage.

1943

Miranda's Letter

Miranda's Letter 2016

8.00

Miranda's Letter takes as a starting point the 'missing women' in Shakespeare, in this instance, The Tempest, and imagines what Miranda's mother would have wanted to say to her daughter. Commissioned as part of Shakespeare Lives 2016.

2016

English Criminal Justice

English Criminal Justice 1946

1

Dramatically told, English Criminal Justice takes us on a journey through the principles and procedures of the various courts of law in Britain.

1946

Health of a Nation

Health of a Nation 1943

1

An overview of the free healthcare available for children, and the environmental improvements that led to increased public well-being in Britain.

1943

Theatre of War

Theatre of War 2018

7.20

Theatre of War is an essay on how to represent war, performed by former enemies. British and Argentinian veterans of the Falklands war come together to discuss, rehearse and re-enact their memories 35 years after the conflict.

2018

General Election

General Election 1946

1

In the run up to the 1945 general election, the film focuses on the electoral race of one of the 640 local constituencies in Britain, that of Kettering in Northamptonshire.

1946

The Life Cycle of the Maize

The Life Cycle of the Maize 1942

1

Part of the archive's Junior Biology series, this study of maize is aided by diagrammatic, time-lapse, and microscopic footage.

1942

India on Film: 1899 – 1947

India on Film: 1899 – 1947 2017

1

As part of the 2017 UK-India Year of Culture, the British Council and British Film Institute share a unique collection of films documenting the sights and culture of a bygone India. Filmed between 1899-1947, and preserved in the BFI National Archive since then, these rare films capture many glimpses of life in India, from dances and markets, to hunts and pageantry.

2017

Triumph Over Deafness

Triumph Over Deafness 1946

1

Instead of learning sign-language, deaf children are taught to speak and lip-read so that they might interact with others as easily as possible. This is a shortened version of 'Education of the Deaf'.

1946

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey 1945

1

The history of Westminster Abbey and a tour of the monuments within it; accompanied by choral music and including footage of the coronation of King George VI in 1937.

1945

Rufus

Rufus 2003

1

Rufus is a child with an extraordinary obsession: a burning, inþamed desire for anything red. Driven by this impassioned, scarlet fixation, which he can neither control nor understand, he shifts through life in a whirlwind of redness, entirely in the hands of his bizarre compulsion.

2003

Park

Park 1970

6.00

Butt-sniffing action abounds as five otherwise ordinary members of the public get in touch with their primal instincts.

1970

Development of the English Town

Development of the English Town 1943

1

A brisk visual summary of the changing faces of the English town throughout the ages, from the ancients and their hill-forts to the Second World War -- enlivened by the appearance of ghostly denizens to defend their eras against the narrator's various strictures!

1943

Sailors Without Uniform

Sailors Without Uniform 1940

1

The men of the trawlers and drifters set out at dawn on voyages of any- thing from twenty to four thousand miles. This is a wartime picture of fishing and of fishermen who sail in all weathers through perilous seas.

1940

S.O.S.

S.O.S. 1940

1

A documentary about the Penlee Lifeboat and her crew, based around the Cornish fishing village of Mousehole.

1940

The Answer

The Answer 1940

1

Britain's check to the German drive for world domination. The Ministry of Information requested that the film should be withdrawn as it was considered too direct propaganda, and that overseas audiences would have trouble following it. However, it had already been shipped across the colonies and ended up being one of the most popular of the British Council's films - both in the UK and overseas.

1940