West End Jungle

1961 documentary about the history and seedy reality of the sex industry in London's Soho.

Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande

In the racially turbulent UK of the early 70s, a group of black musicians came together in South London with a common love of rhythms and a message of peace. Cymande – with the dove as their symbol – combined jazz, funk, soul and Caribbean grooves to form a unique sound. Despite success in the USA they faced indifference in their native Britain, becoming disillusioned and disbanding. But the music lived on, as new generations of artists imbibed and reworked their pioneering sounds in fresh ways. From Soul II Soul to De La Soul, MC Solaar to The Fugees, the Dove had spread Cymande's message far and wide, prompting their return after forty years. This is their story.

Paula Rego: Telling Tales

Born in Portugal, Paula Rego is one of Britain's leading artists. This intimate film follows the artist from her retrospective in Madrid to the privacy of her studio in London while she talks with humor and candor about her compulsion to produce works that, though accessible, deal with the most private themes.

Pomological

In 1886, the United States Department of Agriculture ambitiously commissioned watercolour illustrations of over 3,000 fruit cultivars. In 2019, this collection was digitized. Mesmerizingly detailed, these images now tell an incredible story about the little-known talent of botanical illustrators, and how their work planted the seeds for intellectual ownership over agricultural innovations.

The Street Performers

This documentary-style short follows two impoverished teens performing on the streets of London in the days leading up to the London Blitz of 1940.

The Greatest Places

A journey to seven of the most geographically dynamic locations on earth. The film features spectacular land forms, diverse wildlife and the people and cultures indigenous to these places. Distinct geographic places include the great island of Madagascar, home to unique limestone pinnacles and the playful lemur; and the greatest desert—the Namib—home of the largest sand dunes in the world that tower majestically over its western border, the Atlantic Ocean. Other locations featured are the great icecap of Greenland, Iguazu Falls in Brazil, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Chang Tang Plateau in Tibet, and the Amazon River in South America.

General Buller Embarking on the 'Dunottar Castle' at Southampton

Watched by crowds, Sir Redvers Buller, Lady Buller, the Mayor of Southampton and others walk along the gangway leading to the ship towards the camera. Sir Redvers pauses to be introduced to one of the ship's officers before embarking. According to BFI programme notes, the filmmaker William K.L. Dickson can be seen bottom left, attempting to introduce himself to General Buller as he passes. Film companies were in competition to film reportage of the Boer War and Dickson was one of those filmmakers keen to do so.

The 'Roslin Castle' (Troopship) Leaving for South Africa

Spectators on the quayside at Southampton wave farewell as the crowded troopship Roslin Castle moves away to the right of the picture. Large numbers of troops on board wave back to loved ones and the crowd including thr 2nd Battaliion West Yorkshires. Date: 20th October 1899.

L'Extrême Droite dans l'Histoire : Du général Boulanger à Jean-Marie Le Pen

Namibia: The Story of a German Colony

Germans colonized the land of Namibia, in southern Africa, during a brief period of time, from 1840 to the end of the World War I. The story of the so-called German South West Africa (1884-1915) is hideous; a hidden and silenced account of looting and genocide.

Refuge

A documentary about the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in London.

Every Good Marriage Begins with Tears

Two Bangladeshi girls born and raised in London have weddings arranged for them against their will by their family. Shahanara, the rebel of the family, banished from the family in her teens for being "too Western", has to swap her pink hot pants for a sari as she goes off to the airport to meet her new Bangladeshi husband. Her sister Hushnara is the opposite of Shahanara; a devout Muslim who agrees to marry so she doesn't upset her parents.

Friedrich Engels - Der Unterschätzte

Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx formed one of the most famous duos in world history. In contrast to Marx, however, Engels seems to have fallen into oblivion today. Unjustly so. Moving archive images, documentary footage and graphic novels lead us back to the time of Friedrich Engels, who shaped the Communist movement like no other.

Jack the Ripper : The Case Reopened

Emilia Fox and Britain’s top criminologist, Professor David Wilson, cast new light on the Jack the Ripper case. Together, they examine the Ripper’s modus operandi using modern technology to recreate the murder sites to help understand the extraordinary risks the Ripper took to kill his victims. Using the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES)—a bespoke computer system used by the police to help detect patterns in criminal activity—and evidence uncovered within the investigation, results strongly indicate another woman was, in fact, the first Ripper victim.

The London Nobody Knows

Based on Geoffrey Fletcher’s book, this captivating documentary exposes the real London of the swinging sixties. Turning its back on familiar sights, the film explores the hidden details of a crumbling metropolis. With James Mason as our Guide, we are led on an tour of the weird and wonderful pockets of London from abandoned music-halls to egg breaking factories.

The Derby 1895

A stationary camera, looking diagonally across a racetrack toward the infield, records the horses as they race past. Once they are out of view and the race is over, police officers run onto the infield. The crowd moves around.