Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
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Backwards
A quirky gem which shows Royal Tunbridge Wells in a rather different light.
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Overview
At first things seem normal in this film from the Regency Film Unit. However, look closely and you can see that all is not what it seems. Dogs move in reverse as do cyclists and cars. On the streets of Tunbridge Wells things also proceed backwards - both traffic and shoppers. Bowls return to their players' hands while earth gets dug back into the ground. The film ends happily for a small boy - who after un-combing his hair and un-brushing his teeth returns to blissful sleep.
The Regency Film Unit was an alternative title for the Tunbridge Amateur Film Unit, first coined after its members met in a room of the same name. The club filmed many creative portraits of Tunbridge Wells and its residents as well as filming various events like parades, agricultural shows and firework displays. They also made amusing and often sophisticated amateur dramas and trick films like Backwards.
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