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Explore archive films
See shorts and features, showing the best from the BFI, national and regional archives - including 120 years of Britain on film
Britain on Film map
Watch thousands of beautifully preserved films, capturing our lives and our stories over 120 years. Search by location to find films about places that mean the world to you.
What we're watching
The Madness of the Dance
Drama200617 mins
From biting nuns to twitching schoolgirls, a professor (Maxine Peake) takes us on a musical journey through mass hysteria.
St Patrick's Day Pilgrimage Downpatrick (1959)
Ceremony19593 minsSilent Location: Downpatrick
A flock of pilgrims follow in the steps of St Patrick from his first church in Saul to his final resting place in Down Cathedral
Close-ups of the Stars
Advert19466 mins
A triple bill of glamour courtesy of Lux toilet soap.
St Patrick's Day
Non-Fiction19161 minsSilent Location: Chelsea
Smiling soldiers receive shamrocks at a traditional St Patrick's Day ceremony.
Solarflares Burn for You
Animation & Artists Moving Image19738 mins Location: St Austell
Come on a psychedelic journey to Cornwall in this stunning, sensual film.
Showtime
Documentary198423 mins Location: Newark-on-Trent
From shire horses to the Royal Marines, welcome to the annual Newark Show. A serious business for the farming community, with prizes to win and 800 gallons of beer to be drunk.
Pleasureland, Southport
Non-Fiction19203 minsSilent Location: Southport
Gentle thrills on the North West coast - a fun day out for everyone, without getting a hair or whisker out of place.
Control Ahead
Amateur film197317 mins Location: Aviemore
The thrills and spills of the 1973 Scottish Rally captured in the surrounds of the Cairngorms.
Hairdressing Championships
News19591 minsSilent Location: Newcastle-under-Lyme
Staffordshire's top heads of hair put on show.
Three Boys in a Boat
School programme and Educational film19565 minsSilent Location: Maesmawr Hall
Three hardworking boys burn weeds, cut and transport reeds for an island hut on the lake at Maemawr Hall, Welshpool, and fry eggs outdoors.
7 Towns
Amateur film196758 mins Location: Evesham
Worcestershire's historic towns: a heritage at risk from 1960s progress.
The House that Moved
News19613 minsSilent Location: Exeter
A medieval move that hits newsdesks around the world as a timber house finds a new settlement to satisfy the town planners.
Pembrokeshire, My County
Documentary196027 mins Location: St Davids / Tyddewi
Lush travelogue painting a relaxing picture of the county, from Prescelly Hills and St. David's Cathedral to Caldy Island
Heritage Over The Wensum
Factual TV197525 mins Location: Norwich
The Twitchells represent a new generation. Living in the very centre of Norwich, they enjoy the benefits of a pub, markets, and an underground jazz club right on their doorstep.
Father of British Studio Pottery
News19784 mins Location: St Ives
Bernard Leach offers an insight into his life’s work.
Robin Hood's Bay
Amateur film19796 mins Location: Robin Hood's Bay
Yorkshire’s answer to Looe island, with its alleyways, bolt holes and secret passages for smugglers of days gone by to evade the excise men.
Tram Ride through Sunderland (1904)
Non-Fiction19043 minsSilent Location: Sunderland
The thrill of a ride through central Sunderland to the sea at Roker.
Prospect of Skelmersdale
Documentary197124 mins Location: Skelmersdale
Putting people at the forefront of planning.
NHS on Film
Film has the power to change lives – and even save them. No surprise, then, that moving images have played an important role in one of the world’s greatest public health services.
C.A.L.M.
Public Information Filler19971 mins
A powerful public information filler promoting CALM – a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide.
Towards a Better Life - Community Health
26 mins
A GP in rural Somerset and one in Kentish Town, London, reflect on “what is a General Practitioner in the 1980s?”
Something to Offer
Documentary196922 mins
An interesting documentary on psychiatric provision, set at a Plymouth day hospital and originally produced for nursing recruitment.
New Way of Caring
Documentary197321 mins
An in-house training film designed to explain the NHS' 1973 reorganisation to its staff.
Computer Doctor
19745 mins
Reporter Michèle Brown visits London's Western Hospital, where a computer is on the medical staff to help doctors with routine doctor\patient consultations.
Blood Donor : Glenda and Ernie
Public Information Filler19813 mins
Glenda Jackson makes a song and a dance about giving blood – in a wise-cracking double act with Ernie Wise.
Featured collections
Carol Morley
Dreams, memories and reveries - the collected works of one of Britain's most distinctive filmmakers.
Born Digital: First Cuts
Eleven innovative short films about the digital experience, commissioned by the BFI, BBC Four and BBC Arts to mark the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web in 2019.
Arcadia
Capturing the beauty and brutality, the magic and madness of rural Britain.
Immerse yourself in the films featured in Paul Wright's captivating archive odyssey.