This film is part of Free
Eugene Atget: Photographer
Meet France’s mysterious master of photography, now feted as an inspiration to the surrealist movement.
Overview
Meet France’s mysterious master of photography, neglected in his own lifetime but since feted for helping position the medium as an art form, and as an inspiration to surrealists. This meditative Arts Council documentary introduces Eugène Atget, a former actor who began to document the streets of old Paris from the 1890s. Little is known about his early life and the three decades he spent capturing, in eerie tableaux, urban spaces since lost to progress. The film includes dramatised scenes from his life, including his belated ‘discovery’ by American photographers Man Ray and Berenice Abbott, who published many of Atget’s works after his death in 1927.
Related
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.