This film is part of Free

Title of error

Trial by Weather

Farmers face off against elemental forces in a peace-time campaign

Documentary 1948 21 mins

Overview

The weather of 1947 threatened food supply while the nation still recovered from war. From the snow bound uplands to the fens plagued by thaw floods, everything seemed lost. But wartime had bred a can-do attitude - with new seed from the empire, equipment from allies, conscripts building barricades and the hardy persistence of the farmers themselves, there’s another victory on the home front.

Made in the mode of wartime propaganda, this film continues the style and approach that the Ministry of Information had perfected in a series of agriculturally focussed films during WWII. Director James Carr would go on to take the production company World Wide Pictures to success as one of the premier British suppliers of government documentaries and industrial films in the postwar period. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.

Director

James Carr

Featuring

Patrick Curwen , Curigwen Lewis and Ralph Wightman

Genres

Documentary

Country

United Kingdom

Location

Fenlands, TheSouthampton

Language

English

Subjects

Watch for free

Fenlands Fenlands

Government sponsored film 1945 17 mins Location: Fenlands, The

Fascinating documentary about the management of the East Anglian Fens, an intricate network of 17th-century waterways carved through peat bogs.

Watch for free

Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 24 mins

Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

Watch for free

Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 30 mins

Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell

Documentary 2024 42 mins

Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels

Short documentary 2024 12 mins

Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.