Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius

A film about the career and methods of the master silent comedy filmmaker.

Sperduti nel buio

Documentary about the lost 1914 film "Sperduti nel buio". Film historian Denis Lotto journeys across Europe following the trail of the lost movie.

Censored!

A documentary about the cultural effect of film censorship, focusing on the tumultuous times of the teens and early 1920s in America.

Nanook of the North

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Récréation à la Martinière

Students in Lyon.

Spiders on a Web

Consisting of a single shot, Spiders on a Web is one of the earliest British examples of close-up natural history photography. Made by one of the pioneers of the British film industry, G.A. Smith, this short film details spiders trapped in an enclosure, and despite the title, does not actually feature a web.

Danse serpentine

Madame Ondine performs a serpentine dance surrounded by big cats.

Silent Britain

Long treated with indifference by critics and historians, British silent cinema has only recently undergone the reevaluation it has long deserved, revealing it to be far richer than previously acknowledged. This documentary, featuring clips from a remarkable range of films, celebrates the early years of British filmmaking and spans from such pioneers as George Albert Smith and Cecil Hepworth to such later figures as Anthony Asquith, Maurice Elvey and, of course, Alfred Hitchcock.

La remise des décorations

The Epic of Everest

The official record of Mallory and Irvine's 1924 expedition. When George Mallory and Sandy Irvine attempted to reach the summit of Everest in 1924 they came closer than any previous attempt. Inspired by the work of Herbert Ponting (The Great White Silence) Captain Noel filmed in the harshest of conditions, with specially adapted equipment, to capture the drama of the fateful expedition.

Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs

Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs is a 1908 British short silent documentary film, directed by George Albert Smith as a showcase his new Kinemacolor system, which features a woman displaying assorted tartan cloths, both draped on her body and waved semaphore-style. The patterned handkerchiefs are, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, “presumably the same cloths featured in Tartans of Scottish Clans (1906), this time shown from various angles.”

Berlin, die Symphonie der Großstadt

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Le débarquement du congrès de photographie à Lyon

Down the gangway, photographers leave the deck of a riverboat in large numbers.

Nice : Sa Majesté Carnaval et le char des Limonadiers

Elaborate floats and costumes parading the streets of Nice.

Tigres

Teasing tigers with meat.

Paris, Champs-Elysées (voitures)

Lumière Brothers film automobiles driving at the Champs-Elysées.

Stockholm, entrée de l'exposition

A view of the entrance to the Stockholmsutställlningen, the World Exhibition in Stockholm.

Panorama des rives de la Seine à Paris, III

Panorama film shot floating down the Seine.

Chicago, Grande Roue

A view of the Ferris wheel from the Chicago Exposition of 1893, turning slowly.

Défilé du 8e bataillon

A battalion, preceded by three riders and a military marching band, parades in front of the crowd. A man is manoeuvring a handcart bearing the inscription "Sunlight Soap" in the foreground.