Amateur Talkies

Whether it’s the height of the war or its aftermath makes no difference to these children enjoying themselves: at the seaside, on V E Day and around the bomb sites of Sheffield.

In the year the Wright Brothers made their first flight, an Edwardian family film themselves taking to the skies… sort of.

Lloyd George tours the sights of Nazi Germany while his chauffeurs lark about with an SS Officer in this grimly fascinating film.

A rare insight into the public and private lives of the pioneering aviator, filmed by her father.

A day in the life of a school - filmed by a pupil who later became one of Britain's best documentary makers.

Petty party politics gets animated - literally - in this amateur cartoon with a message.

In this mini video essay, BFI contributor Maha Al-Badrawi explains why Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls is a rhinestoned, stilettoed Western. Contains spoilers!

Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.

A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.

Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.

Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.

Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.