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Stirring scenes in Trafalgar Square as Labour MP Will Thorne rallies recruits for the war effort.
Non-Fiction 1915 1 mins Silent
These stirring scenes from November 1915 show Labour MP Will Thorne addressing a rapt crowd in a tightly-packed Trafalgar Square. Thorne's impassioned performance was in support of Lord Derby's appeal - a rally-cry for enlistment issued by the Director General of Recruiting a few weeks before. The patriotic display of brass and banner-wielding goes went down well with Topical Budget's camera.
Will Thorne was a trade unionist and activist who supported military conscription during WW!, I, despite the opposition of his local Labour Party. This film was shot shortly after the launch of the Derby Sscheme: a half-way house to conscription which aimed to bolster recruitment through 'voluntary-compulsion'. Full conscription was finally introduced in January the following year.
Non-Fiction 1915 3 mins Silent
Shades of Lawrence of Arabia in a worn but often beautiful film of WWI desert exercises in Egypt.
Non-Fiction 1915 1 mins Silent
British troops try to coax and cajole their pack animals on to a military supply train, but they're stubborn as mules...
Trick film 1915 5 mins Silent
Follow the lightning-quick hand of the artist behind a series of comic cartoon sketches poking fun at the enemy during WWI.
Roll of Honour film 1915 14 mins Silent
A rare surviving WWI memorial film, featuring poignant images of men killed or injured serving in the armed forces.
Drama 1915 14 mins Silent
An abandoned baby girl is found in an apple barrel and adopted by a humble grocer in this sentimental wartime fiction.
Non-Fiction 1915 7 mins Silent Location: Chichester
Attractive travelogue exploring famous old Sussex landmarks, taking in views including Chichester, Lewes, Arundel and Bosham.
Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins Location: Trafalgar Square
With the Boer War raging 1,000s of miles away, Victorian Londoners pay tribute to the military
Documentary 1944 27 mins Location: Trafalgar Square
"Why in the height of a world war, should there be this terrific interest in painting?"
Non-Fiction 1910 1 mins Silent Location: Trafalgar Square
Votes for Women protesters swamp Trafalgar Square, brandishing placards and petitions.
Non-Fiction 1913 1 mins Silent Location: Trafalgar Square
A suffragette demonstration led by Sylvia Pankhurst ends in chaos as police prevent a march on Downing Street.
Non-Fiction 1910 1 mins Silent Location: Trafalgar Square
Spot the changes and continuities in this majestic Edwardian panorama of Trafalgar Square.
Non-Fiction 1924 0 mins Silent Location: Trafalgar Square
Experience the dinge and gloom of the smog shrouding London's Trafalgar Square in the 1920s.
Documentary 2021 13 mins
A poetic response to the experience of the Coronavirus pandemic, drawing on the collections of 12 UK film archives.
Promotional 2021 1 mins
The 65th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express.
1955 17 mins Location: Brighton
Kids face the closure of their Brighton playground but fight back to reclaim it, with a little help from the iconic Volks Railway
Children's 1954 59 mins Location: Goudhurst
Child actor Mandy Miller shines in this children's adventure set in the traditional hop picking season in Kent.
Drama 2020 4 mins
A driver tries some small talk to connect with his Uber passenger, but ends up raising bigger issues.
Performance 1979 36 mins Location: Liverpool
Black music and culture in the community
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