This film is part of Free
I Am a Mayor
Life and local government in Maidenhead, Berks.
Overview
The Mayor of Maidenhead on life and local government in the well-to-do Berkshire town. This film was part of a small series of 'I Am...' films produced for government by Basic Films (alongside I Am a Reporter and I Am a Mobile Librarian). Primarily aimed at overseas (especially Commonwealth) audiences, and secondly at UK classrooms, the picture they paint is of an untroubled postwar society comfortable with its history but just as much ease facing present and future.
Leon Clore, producer of the I Am... series, and John Fletcher, director of I Am a Mayor, were both associated with the Free Cinema movement of the late 50s. But Free Cinema these films certainly weren't. Instead, their style serves their informative purpose (in this case explaining how town councils work) but also embodies the underlying theme of tradition and modernity comfortably infused. The look and sound are unobtrusive reboots of 1940s documentary: fluid mobile camerawork is mixed in with more traditional static shots, and the first-person voiceovers replace and humanise the classic 'Voice of God' narration.
Related
Task of the Teacher Task of the Teacher
School programme and Educational film 1973 43 mins Location: Northcourt
London’s school kids get to grips with teaching methods, technology and cows in this film from the 1970s explaining educational theories at different London schools.
District Nurse District Nurse
Government sponsored film 1952 27 mins Location: Wadhurst
Never a dull moment for a rural district nurse in the early days of the NHS.
Pakistani Bus Driver Pakistani Bus Driver
News 1974 2 mins Location: Birmingham
Bus timetables are sacrosanct to some but to others there are more important things in life - and faith is one of them.
Dustman Dustman
Documentary 1928 3 mins Silent Location: Sheffield
Refuse collection you cannot refuse with some state-of-the-art bin business in 1920s Sheffield
Mobile Shop Mobile Shop
News 1975 4 mins Location: Ullesthorpe
It's an Aladdin's Cave of household goods: Donald Sansome's travelling store is a lifeline for the people of rural Leicestershire
These Are the Hands These Are the Hands
Charity appeal 2020 2 mins
Beautiful NHS fundraiser, setting Michael Rosen’s poem to powerful archive images.
Thames Valley Thames Valley
Amateur film 1935 20 mins Silent Location: Maidenhead
Amateur travelogue of Maidenhead's beauty spots
Discomania Discomania
Drama 1979 24 mins Location: London
Nerdy teenage mummy's boy David dreams of wowing the girls with his disco dance moves - but alas he was born with two left feet.
So This Is Staines! So This Is Staines!
Non-Fiction 1926 1 mins Silent Location: Staines-upon-Thames
Welcome to 'Maidenhead-sur-Mer' - waterlogged scenes of Thames Valley flooding from January 1926.
Laura Mulvey in Conversation Laura Mulvey in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 76 mins
Laura Mulvey in conversation, following her BFI Fellowship Award.
George Clooney in Conversation George Clooney in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 74 mins
George Clooney visited BFI Southbank to look back on his life and career.
Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 65 mins
The Oscar®- winning director of Nomadland discusses her unique approach to filmmaking and the inspiration behind the adaptation of Hamnet.
Edgar Wright on The Running Man Edgar Wright on The Running Man
Inside Film 2025 28 mins
The director talks to Mark Kermode about putting Stephen King's dystopian life-or-death gameshow thriller through its paces.
Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 69 mins
Richard Linklater discusses his remarkable and wide-ranging body of work, including Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague.
Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 73 mins
Daniel Day-Lewis, the ultimate actor’s actor discusses his career in conversation with Mark Kermode.