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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
Demonstration of Suffragettes
Non-Fiction19103 mins Location: London
An early view of Emily Wilding Davison in the multitudes of women in a mass demonstration organised by the Women’s Social and Political Union on 18 June 1910
Glastonbury Festival and the First Pyramid Stage
News19725 mins Location: Glastonbury
Glastonbury ley lines for iconic pyramid stage to heighten a festival-goer’s experience
Shadowman
Amateur film19948 mins Location: Harlesden
A female protagonist falls prey to the ‘Shadowman’, who stalks his victim before attack. Uses stop-motion animation as well as live action.
The Black Dog's Progress
Animation & Artists Moving Image20083 mins
A series of flipbooks tell the sad story of the Black Dog.
Dulais Valley - carnivals, wedding, playground, swimming, majorettes
Home movie196536 mins Location: Dulais Valley/Cwm Dulais
Master baker John Dillwyn Williams, owner of Duffryn Bakery, Onllwyn, turns his hand to film-making and captures community events in glorious colour.
Lesbians (Gay Life)
198134 mins
Gay women from different generations discuss their experiences in this revealing TV documentary
Rebellion
Factual TV196955 mins
A terrible beauty: impressive early TV history programme looks at Ireland 1913-23.
Reflections
Documentary197218 mins
The curved, reflective sculptures of William Pye create different ways of reading space.
Welcome/Adieu
Animation & Artists Moving Image19833 mins
Victorian lantern slides and a ‘patriotic’ rendering of God Save the Queen
Strange Visitors
Non-Fiction19233 mins Location: Millwall
Had London’s Isle of Dogs seen anything more exotic than elephants and a smoking chimp?
Tufty - Safe Places to Cross
Public Information Filler19731 mins
Road safety guidance for kids from Tufty the squirrel and friends
The Train Makers
Training film/TV programme198123 mins Location: Horwich
A look at the engineering skills behind British Rail Engineering Limited - one of Britain's "biggest engineering concerns"
Ullapool 1949
Amateur film194913 mins Location: Ullapool
The essence of Ullapool - its wonderful nature and thriving fishing industry
Tram Journey through Southampton
Non-Fiction19002 mins Location: Southampton
A moving tour through lively turn-of-the-century Southampton.
Glanhirin and Bodtalog Shearings – July 1962
Amateur film19623 mins Location: Bodtalog
Shearers and helpful neighbours have arrived by car and on horseback to shear and brand 2,500 sheep over 2 days in the Cwmdauddwr hills.
Wish You Were Here
Documentary194918 mins
Round-the-clock fun is the order of the day in this whirlwind survey of the tourist industry in 1949: from a mass Hokey Cokey at Butlin’s Pwllheli, to stand-up comedy in the Catskills.
Barging through London
192411 mins Location: Limehouse
Part of Wonderful London, the BFI National Archive’s programme of restored London travelogues, filmed in the capital in the 1920s.
Women of the Rhondda
Documentary197321 mins
Tales of the valley: women recall their lives in the mining communities of the Rhondda
Tea Leaf
Documentary19888 mins
An intimate account of frustration and disarray in 1980s Britain from the point of view of a young woman.
The Jewish Community in Ulster
News196622 mins Location: Belfast
Take a rare glimpse into the thoughts and lives of members of Belfast’s Jewish Community during the 1960s.
William Frankel
196720 mins
Bernard Braden interviews the editor of the Jewish Chronicle about recent controversies in the press and the future of the Middle East
The Antique Vase
Comedy19139 mins
A penniless actor sells his beloved antique vase to a Jewish dealer who is pained to part with his money
Cast Us Not Out
Documentary196922 mins
Documentary insight into the work of the Jewish Welfare Board, helping some of the most vulnerable people in the community
The Wedding of Mr Laurence Marks to Miss Lily Balon
Home movie19252 mins Location: Fallowfield
Rain and confetti, and big smiles all round, as the weather fails to dampen spirits at a Manchester wedding.
Featured collections
Suffragettes on Film
"You have to make more noise than anybody else!," cried Suffragette pioneer Emmeline Pankhurst. But how to make more noise in silent film?
Wedding Bells
It's the big day and you're invited: a multitude of marriages, caught on film since the 1910s.
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.