Amateur Auteurs

Filmmaking that is both educational and fun with this highly accomplished amateur film of the Devon coast, and its inhabitants, before it became overloaded with holidaymakers.

The puzzle that kick-started the 1980s comes to life in this amateur animation.

The disappointment of youthful love, as the gritty realism of the early 1960s stands in stark contrast with the fantasies of the later 1960s.

In this bizarre 1932 short film produced by the Bournemouth Cine Society, a swastika pendant becomes a plot device in a kidnapping drama.

The Hand of Fate is cruel indeed in this minor tragedy from the Bournemouth Cine Society - featuring lovers, letters and suspension bridges

Nail-biting amateur thriller in Pinner tells the story of a suspicious husband who may not have got the right man.

For the very last time Albert, at 73, makes the work of weaving the large willow bobbin baskets, skeps, look easy, having devoted his entire working life to perfecting his art.

The ancient battle between farmers and sheep rustlers provides a job for life for a blacksmith fabricating the branding lettering of farmers.

The quirks of a whippet race, with novices in winklepickers learning from the old hands, all fully elucidated in broad West Yorkshire dialect.

The waves gently lapping on the shore, seagulls gliding through the air, a perfect photographic morning, until that is, the family arrive!

A day in the life of a school - filmed by a pupil who later became one of Britain's best documentary makers.

A home movie of a school - made by pupil Michael Grigsby who would became one of Britain's best documentary makers.

What happens when you combine high food prices with female resourcefulness? Fishing!

The excitement of making this crime caper is clearly seen in the acting of these kids from a village junior school, as they chase the robbers across fields overlooking the Dales.

Gotta dance! A bewitched violin gets everyone's feet tapping.

The 20s elite let their guard down... Amateur antics from media baron Lord Beaverbrook and friends, including HG Wells and Rebecca West.

A gem-smuggling conspiracy drives an entertaining and unusually accomplished amateur fiction.

Shocking scenes of Kensington slums and 1930s housing developments offer a sharp contrast with today's reinvented area.

Catholic fantasy starring Elsa Lanchester and Evelyn Waugh in an Andy Warhol fright wig.

If you can't go abroad, go a-Broads with country parson and keen amateur cineaste 'Captain' Charles Lyne and his wife Muriel

The Pinner Cine Society looks at the work of Northwood's welfare services.

An epic tale of one girl's life from the ages of one to 22, lovingly filmed by her dad.

Class conflict comes to the boil in an entertaining amateur film about fandom and rival ambitions for movie stardom.

This prize-winning short amateur comedy about a distracted father highlights the best and worst of its times.

An unusual, poignant piece of wartime correspondence showing how movies can be used to comfort those who are far away.

Pincurls, pools and a paralytic priest – a housewife’s win on the pools leads to a mix-up with the gin and amusing results

A starkly beautiful portrait of crofting life in Flodabay on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

A map that leads to treasure and trouble: John, Mary and Anne go in search of Jack Mundy's loot only to find that his map wasn't quite complete.

A Geoff Charles film showing how “the men of Llanwddyn broke their way out for bread” after a great blizzard hit Britain in January 1947.

Back to Victorian times: a rich employer provides decent housing, a hospital, a library, a school, a boathouse, almshouses and public baths.

A lively collection of largely comic amateur films, followed by a glimpse at the sets of On the Beach and Ben-Hur.

Surrounded by jealously, plots and intrigue are calmer times ahead too much to hope for?

A biplane, car chase and steam express train all feature in this pre-war 16mm thriller that stretches the ambition and art of the amateur film maker.

All the boy has to do is to fetch a pail of water…What could possibly go wrong?

Catapult-wielding democrats take on wader-wearing fascists in this ‘Plas Newydd’ drama filmed by the Marquis of Anglesey.

What dreams may come when a treasured possession is aggressively broken? Unfinished drama starring Anglesey’s Earl of Uxbridge as a poor boy.

Calling all teachers! Give the blackboard a break - try running a film instead.

Are the times a-changin', or are we getting old? This amateur cartoon delves into the dreams of the Cashworthy family.

Superbly produced amateur short about a brief romantic encounter by Howard Blake, composer of the score for The Snowman.

One of the ten winning films of 1948 awarded a 'silver plaque' by 'Amateur Cine World' magazine - a significant achievement for the makers, the Film Society of Welwyn Garden City.

It's role reversal and 'rebellion' in the Scott household as Mrs S decides on a 5 day week too!

Nightmarish visions become a reality in this imaginative production that mixes live action, animation, and special effects.

Thrilling pirate adventure made by a preparatory schoolmaster and starring some of his schoolchildren, who apprehend dangerous smugglers.

A bumbling vicar steals the scene in this short chase film; a silent comedy set in a Norfolk village, featuring many of the villagers.

Charming fantasy adventure filmed by a prep schoolmaster and starring the pupils at the school. Schoolboys search for a fairytale princess.

A female protagonist falls prey to the ‘Shadowman’, who stalks his victim before attack. Uses stop-motion animation as well as live action.

A strange old hermit uses witchcraft to give life to the Frankenstein monster. Will the creature be his instrument of revenge, or will it turn on its creator?

Who will triumph when a game of hide and seek turns into a campaign against nuclear power?

A young man is left an old mansion in his uncle’s will. Too late he discovers that he's also inherited a legacy of witchcraft and demonology!

Alien outcasts run amok on planet Earth in Roy Spence's sci-fi romp, a film that draws on the lo-fi charm of Ed Wood and Roger Corman.

Beware as the all-consuming creature from outer space embarks on a rampage of horror and death in this World Amateur Film of The Year.

A man loses everything he has day-dreaming his way through life

Alien overlords, a giant robot and cavemen… welcome to the feverish imagination of Roy Spence.

Why don't you come along to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum? Remember, all you need to bring is a little imagination.

Extra-terrestrial plantlife is discovered in the Welsh countryside causing mischief for scientist Dr Felix Ackerman, filmed in 1977.

To carry on his important work the ego-maniacal scientist Dr Kelly must obtain another hand … a hand which begins to take on a life of its own.

This bizarre science fiction film made by students at Sheffield University gives a great insight into the mindset and aesthetic of the early 1970s.

A boy and his cat make mischief in the snow at South Shields in this captivating hand-drawn childrens animation created by Sheila Graber.

An exuberant animated short celebrates writer Sid Chaplins short story about the defiant spirit of an old miner who finds his beloved pigeon loft is under threat.

Barbie dolls in pink battle khaki killing machines in a Christmas animation that cocks a snook at the “Disney Doctrine”.

A delightful road safety film set on the streets of Cambridge featuring an escaped horse with a respect for the Highway Code.

Driven to distraction a young man murders another, however the dead victim’s feline reincarnation wants revenge!

Pity poor Bonzo. Bought by a couple who quickly tire of his doggie antics, he's now the object of murderous intentions. But can Bonzo redeem himself in time to save his skin?

A decade before the BBC's version of M R James supernatural classic came this chilling version from the North Downs Cinematograph Society

Amateur award-winning dramatic thriller influenced by 1940s Universal Horror movies and made by husband and wife team John and Dede Wright.

A haunted mirror is the gateway to Halloween horror in this eerie tale from the Eastbourne Cine Group

Early film: The life of a gentleman farmer is turned upside down when he discovers his wife in the arms of the local asylum's chief warder.

Sheila sees the folly of her ways when husband, John, is to be hanged for murdering her paramour, but once trusty Bill from the CID is on the case, the real killer is soon unmasked

School boy antics take a supernatural turn in this silent slapstick ghost story made by pupils in a Belfast boarding school.

Amusing fantasy of the adventures of a priest who finds his new parish in the grip of the most blatant depravity

There is a baby and a bandit loose in the streets of Derry, but which one is the fugitive, the robber or the runaway pram?

Who is this mysterious man causing chaos in the city of a 1000 rumours? Watch tonight’s feature from Alfred Hiccup to discover Derry’s hidden world.

A Derry classroom becomes an unlikely setting for this uncanny experimental film by Terence McDonald and Gerry Wills

Between us is truth, let there be truth between us

Something sinister this way comes in one of The Spence Brothers earliest films.

A valuable necklace is stolen – but where is the thief?

Buckle up for some asphalt angst on a tense 1960s road trip on and off the A19.

A sophisticated bookish blonde proves to be a murderer’s nemesis in this atmospheric thriller-with-a-twist from the Eastbourne Cine Group

Peter’s birthday is one his suffering parents would rather forget in this harrowing film from the Sevenoaks Cine Society

This gruesome tale from the Barnes Brothers is a warning to parents as a young child falls prey to a band of cliff dwelling murderous outlaws

A pair of kidnappers are no match for the derring-do Boy Scouts of Eltham - in this amateur action thriller from the Eltham Cine Society

This inventive comedy double-bill is more than your average home movie - with its tale of two young pranksters getting their just deserts

The unusual angle of an amateur auteur

There are echoes of Fritz Lang in this short film about a shadowy figure following a child through woodland - but what is his true purpose?

A young man rambles in his winklepickers in rundown Leeds brooding on the ennui of a 1960s Sunday, and on his disillusionment with religion.

Four bright young things enact a midsummer's love tryst among the daisies in this short, well-crafted amateur fiction film.