The East Anglian Film Archive, the first and largest Regional Film Archive in England, was established in 1976. Since 1984, EAFA has been owned and operated by the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UEA), to support research and work to preserve our moving image heritage. More than 250 hours are freely available online as examples of the wide range of film which attracts interest the world over.
This film is currently unavailable
Childrens' Christmas Parties
The ring on the string keeps moving! Party games, a finger buffet and a ventriloquist dummy entertain the children of the Lane and Scrutton families at Christmastime.
From the collection of:
Overview
The Lane-Scrutton families enjoy a get-together and a giggle at Christmas, with special parties put on for the grandchildren, friends and neighbours. An elaborate finger food buffet and party games such as 'oranges and lemons' and 'pass the parcel' keep the little ones entertained, whilst the 'big ones' entertain themselves with a ventriloquist dummy - a toy version of Peter Brough's famous puppet character Archie Andrews who at the time was a favourite on the wireless.
In an age before television, the hobby of home movie-making would fill in those vacant hours for brothers-in-law Sidney Lane and Cecil Scrutton. Throughout the years they captured a number of family events – away days, play days and parties – even employing a set of free-standing floodlights to ensure indoor scenes at their Norwich homes were adequately captured. They bought their 9.5mm cine camera in 1951, from Doughty's Shop on Regent Road in Great Yarmouth. A screening of the year's home movies would become an integral part of the family’s winter schedule, accompanied by a bought Charlie Chaplin film short for added entertainment.
Related
"Out West" Norwich Union Cinema Advertisement "Out West" Norwich Union Cinema Advertisement
Advert 1971 1 mins Location: Norwich
It's all hip and happening working in insurance, as this 1971 recruitment advertisement for Norwich Union, made for cinema screening, shows.
The Cromer Train The Cromer Train
Amateur film 1984 11 mins Location: Norwich
The railway line from Norwich to Cromer; a vital link in local life, but will the trains continue?
Norwich Market Norwich Market
Amateur film 1974 4 mins Location: Norwich
Whether you’re after handbags, children’s toys, flat caps, ladies’ coats or your everyday fruit and veg, it’s all here at Norwich market.
Heigham Conservative Ladies Bowls Club in…SPOON'S Heigham Conservative Ladies Bowls Club in…SPOON'S
Amateur film 1936 2 mins Silent Location: Norwich
Women meet on a Norwich bowling green to play a friendly bowls match.
River - A Living Thing River - A Living Thing
Documentary 1983 26 mins Location: Syderstone
Dick Joice introduces this documentary charting the course and the history of the river starting at Horningtoft and finishing in Norwich.
Read's Flour Mill Read's Flour Mill
Documentary 1993 4 mins Location: Norwich
Between the River Wensum and King Street stood Albion Mill, an 1837 yarn mill, repurposed in 1932 as a flour mill by Robert John Read.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
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 Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
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.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.