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Tessa Dunlop: The Home Front

A journey through BFI Player's The Home Front collection, by Tessa Dunlop, historian, journalist, presenter of BBC2's Coast and Radio 4’s Crossing Continents.

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Happy Family Happy Family

War 1939 9 mins

Summer 1939, and an ordinary family gets an alarming taste of war to come in this little-known Ealing Studios propaganda short.

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Keep Them Safe, Keep Them Happy Keep Them Safe, Keep Them Happy

Charity appeal 1939 2 mins Silent Location: Norwich

Sweet and touching wartime cinema appeal for 300,000 London children spending Christmas far from home.

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London Can Take It! London Can Take It!

Government sponsored film 1940 9 mins Location: London

Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt’s famous GPO film is an enduring example of British self-mythology; a hymn to London’s resilience that helped persuade America to join the war.

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Start a Land Club Start a Land Club

Government sponsored film 1942 8 mins

The wartime potato shortage is addressed in this marvellous film from 1942 - exhorting workers and school children to lend a hand on local farms by joining Land Clubs.

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Scotland Speaks Scotland Speaks

Documentary 1941 20 mins Location: Stirling

Well-known landmarks such as Stirling Castle and Bannockburn fields feature in this propaganda film about Scotland during the Second World War.

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V.E. Day May 8th & 9th 1945 – Thanksgiving Day May 14th 1945 V.E. Day May 8th & 9th 1945 – Thanksgiving Day May 14th 1945

Amateur film 1945 10 mins Silent Location: Gateshead

You can almost hear the cheers in this gorgeous silent film of VE day celebrations on the red, white and blue decked streets of Gateshead