'All My Loving' was created when John Lennon and Paul McCartney challenged Palmer, then a classical music documentarian, to make a film that encompassed the 1968 music world in one hour of screen time. This was the time of student demonstrations against the war in Vietnam and the music describes this struggle while also providing an escape from the troubles of the day. Great footage and interviews with the likes of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pink Floyd - who had just lost Syd Barrett - find out more...

Award wining documentary ‘Song of Ceylon’, is a lyrical beauty, but owes its enduring charm to its anachronistic notions of Empire and Englishness. ‘Bread’ is a slice of realism that looks at hunger in Britain. ‘Beyond This Open Road’ shows the urban populace journeying into the countryside during their weekends away from work; the imagery and utopian aesthetic are reminiscent of the work of Leni Riefenstahl. ‘Coal Face’ is an experiment in realism that focuses on the importance of coal mini find out more...

Another striking DVD release from the BFI archives that gives a contemporary twist to a dramatic re-construction of the battle of Culloden in 1746; a conflict acknowledged by many for ending Clan unity within the Scottish Highlands. Filmed in black and white and made back in 1964 Culloden remains a striking depiction of a particularly brutal event in history. find out more...

Includes the films; How It Feels to be Run Over (1900) Explosion of a Motor Car (1900) Rescued by Rover (1905) The Other Side of the Hedge (1905) The Fatal Sneeze (1907) Visit to Peak Frean's and Co's Biscuit Works (1906) A Day in the Life of a Coalminer (1910) Par le trou de serrure (1901) Ali Baba et les quarantes voleurs (1905) Aladin ou la lampe merveilleuse (1906) Le chaval emballe (1907) The Physician of the Castle (1908) Magic Bricks (1908) It's Scotch (1898) The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903) The find out more...

Including the films: Sortie d'usine (1895), Repas de bebe (1895), Demolition d'un mur (1896), Le Jardinier et le petit espiegle (1895), Arrivee des Congessistes a Neuville-sur-saone (1895), Arrivee d'un train en gare a la ciotat(1895), Partie d'ecarte (1895), Barque sortant du port(1895), Leaving Jerusalem By Railway(1896), Bataillede Boules de Neige (1896), Pompiers a Lyon (1896), Niagara and Spanish Bullfight (1897) all by Auguste and Louis Lumiere. Voyage a travers l'impossible (Melies, 1904 find out more...

The greatest surf movie ever made. "On any day of the year it is summer somewhere in the world..." Go with Robert August and Mike Hynson as they follow the summer season to Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii and California in search of the perfect wave. Still the ultimate surf film of all time!

find out more...

Welles wryly reflects on art, creativity and the fabrications that sustain them in this documentary about forgery and illusion. He weaves the stories of forgers de Hory, Clifford Irving and Kodar with a self-portrait in this meditation on the meaning of truth. A cinematic equivalent to an Escher painting. find out more...

A remarkable documentary made by painstakingly searching for all the film-clips ever made of the Csar, his family and the surrounding events. Brilliantly edited the film achieves effects of irony, absurdity, pathos and grandeur. One of the most remarkable films ever made. find out more...

The term 'free cinema' was coined by critic and filmmaker Lindsay Anderson in early 1956 when he, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti showed a programme of their short films at the National Film Theatre. Although the name was intended only for that screening, it proved so successful that five more programmes were shown under the same banner between 1956 and 1959. find out more...

The term 'free cinema' was coined by critic and filmmaker Lindsay Anderson in early 1956 when he, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti showed a programme of their short films at the National Film Theatre. Although the name was intended only for that screening, it proved so successful that five more programmes were shown under the same banner between 1956 and 1959. find out more...