This film is part of Free

Title of error

See Help

Waves Break on Bow of a Ship

A vicarious ocean-going experience

Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins

Overview

You’ll need your sea legs to watch this film, which was apparently filmed from a perilous position on the ship’s mast - in rough seas. This is a nautical example of a 'phantom ride' - in which a camera is mounted on a moving vehicle - a popular genre among early filmgoers for the still-novel sensation of travel it offered. Thanks to the swelling waves, the effect when projected on a screen is rather queasier than the comparatively gentle train or tram journeys that were more typical phantom ride subjects.

Waves on Bow of a Ship was made by Warwick Trading Company, a leading British film production and distribution company between 1898-1915.

Genres

Non-Fiction

Country

United Kingdom

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Subjects

Rough seas

Watch for free

Rough Sea at Roker (1901) Rough Sea at Roker (1901)

Non-Fiction 1901 2 mins Silent Location: Roker

Mesmerising film of sea waves on the north east coast of England.

Watch for free

Incoming Tide Incoming Tide

Non-Fiction 1898 1 mins Silent Location: Worthing

Worthing waves at us in this mesmerising early film

Watch for free

Rough Sea at Dover Rough Sea at Dover

Non-Fiction 1895 0 mins Silent

Waves crash onto a jetty on the Kentish shoreline in one of Britain's earliest surviving films

Watch for free

Rough Sea Rough Sea

Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins Silent

Dover’s Admiralty Pier could be the setting for these Victorian shots of waves breaking.

Watch for free

Rough Sea Rough Sea

Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins Silent

Breaking waves at an unidentified coastal location

Watch for free

Waves Breaking on a Pier Waves Breaking on a Pier

Non-Fiction 1896 1 mins Silent

Intrepid tourists brave the great waves breaking on the marina wall at Brighton

Watch for free

New Perspectives: La Haine New Perspectives: La Haine

Short documentary 2025 4 mins

Charlie Hammersley, a student from Northumbria University, explains how Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film holds up a mirror to society.

Watch for free

Dreamers Q&A Dreamers Q&A

Inside Film 2025 30 mins

The film-makers behind a haunting tale of love and community within a UK immigration detention centre visited the BFI Southbank to discuss their film.