Please download the latest version of the BFI Player app (3.4)
AirPlay is now enabled and casting functionality has been improved
This film is part of Free
Crowds pay homage to the legendary naked rider during Coventry’s Edwardian coronation celebrations.
Non-Fiction 1902 9 mins Silent
Godgifu, an 11th century noblewoman, famously rode naked through the streets of Coventry to save her people from what historian Daniel Donoghue described as "an oppressive and shameful servitude". This film comprises four extracts from a two to three-hour procession, held in Coventry on the afternoon of 9 September 1902 to commemorate her legend and to mark the coronation of Edward VII.
The procession starred the fabulously voluptuous and successful London Hippodrome actress Vera Guedes as Godiva/Godgifu. The film opens with a lingering shot of Godiva on horseback (in a flesh-coloured dress), highlighting her significance in the event. The remaining sequences shift the focus as the procession is used to exhibit local trade.
Non-Fiction 1901 7 mins Silent Location: Hipperholme
Summertime laughs and larks at a West Yorkshire pleasure gardens.
Non-Fiction 1907 5 mins Silent Location: Llandudno
May Day festivities in the North Wales town.
Non-Fiction 1901 2 mins Silent Location: Pendlebury
Outside a fairground cinematograph in Edwardian Lancashire.
Non-Fiction 1901 7 mins Silent Location: Morecambe
Crystal-clear views of town, sands, sea, tourists and locals at the Lancashire resort.
Non-Fiction 1903 18 mins Silent Location: Bootle
May Day revellers brave a wet and windy day in Edwardian Merseyside.
Non-Fiction 1905 1 mins Silent Location: Leyland
A colourful May festival parade in the Lancashire town.
Amateur film 1965 12 mins Location: London
Join the Clague family as they zoom up an empty M1 to Stratford upon Avon, Long Itchington and Coventry - a city reborn after its 1940 destruction
Current affairs 1986 7 mins Location: Coventry
Two councils with two different approaches to LGBT rights.
Current affairs 1978 9 mins Location: West Bromwich
The UK's immigration laws have prevented Dara Singh from seeing his family for a decade. His is one of many sad stories...
Documentary 1975 26 mins Location: Ruddington
The industrial Midlands pioneered textile production; from the framework knitters of Nottinghamshire to the birth of the modern factory in the Derwent valley in Derbyshire.
News 1965 3 mins Location: Coventry
As normal the fans are packed into Coventry City's Highfield Road ground for a match. The difference is that the game is being played 130 miles away in Cardiff.
Amateur film 1936 11 mins Silent Location: Coventry
The surreal presence of barrage balloons on the Coventry skyline gives this home movie an end-of-an-era feel.
Short documentary 2021 5 mins
Film & TV Critic Hanna Flint introduces The Arbor and reflects on how Clio Barnard's debut feature fuses documentary and fictional elements in an innovative way.
Drama 2018 7 mins
Khwaaish or 'Desire' is an Indian short film that glimpses into the life of one man’s longing to find a same-sex companion, in a city that refuses to accept LGBTQIA+ people.
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2015 5 mins
Beautifully animated short film about a boy's feelings of love for another boy – his best friend.
Romance 2017 15 mins
A first-of-its-kind silent LGBTQ short film set in India, Sisak makes waves before the visuals of this film hit the shore.
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2017 12 mins
Lalit decides to come out to his parents at dinner. Seeking acceptance, he cooks his father’s favourite fish curry.
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2015 5 mins
A British Indian woman and her father discuss their opposing views on family and sexuality in this beautifully moving, visually striking 2D animated short film.
Do you recognise a place, building or location in this film?
Help us populate the Britain on Film map by spotting and plotting the street or location you know. This is a BFI project and anyone can help.
Go to our Britain on Film crowdsourcing site and contribute to our mapping mission – to identify locations within our archive films.
Add a location
