THE BRITISH Film Institute (BFI) has just launched its Britain on Film project, revealing a tremendous cache of previously unseen and forgotten films of British life from 1895 to 2015 - including hundreds from around the North West.
The charisma of world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson is palpable in these shots of his visit to Manchester...
The new project, one of the largest and most complex archival projects ever undertaken by the BFI, will digitise over 10,000 films in total by 2017 thanks to National Lottery funding and support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
The archive can be accessed for free via the new BFI Player and allows users to search an interactive film map to narrow down footage to their location; where they live, grew up, or perhaps holidayed as a child.
So far, there's roughly 130 films featuring Greater Manchester including:
- Torpedo Flotilla Visit to Manchester - the might of the British Navy struts its stuff down the Manchester Ship Canal (1901)
- First ever film of Manchester United - Man U (in dark) take on local rivals Burnley and win 2-0 at Turf Moor (1902)
- American Heavyweight Boxing Champion visits Manchester - Jack Johnson tours Manchesyer Docks (1911, main image)
- Summertime at Salford University as students take the opportunity to work outsides and take a break from studies (1968)
Robin Baker, Head Curator, BFI said:
“For 120 years cameras have captured almost every aspect of life in the UK on film, but too often these have been inaccessible to all but the most determined researchers. Now, Britain on Film is transforming access to films from the UK’s archives and giving new life to them by making them available, no matter where you live.”
Britain on Film is the result of the BFI National Archive and the UK’s national and regional film archives and rights holders joining forces to bring these films together with a major programme of curation and digitisation that started in 2012 and continues until the end of 2017.
