Two Types: The Faces of Britain

Helvetica

September 2007 •English

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Brexitannia

March 2017 •English

A sociological portrait of the United Kingdom after the historic Brexit vote of 2016. A funny, sometimes terrifying and non-judgemental look at the new populist politics sweeping western democracies.

Queen and the Crown

November 2022 •English

The Queen And The Crown a tribute: A feature length tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest reigning monarch, from her birth in London on April 21st 1926 to the nationwide outpouring of gratitude and thanks to Her Majesty in June 2022 marking the Platinum Jubilee, and then the sorrow just weeks later and her historic and epic funeral. Following the course of her life as the shock of the abdication in 1936 catapulted her father unexpectedly onto the throne, suddenly making the young princess heir to the crown, we see the way she pledged to give herself entirely to serving the nation.

Three Is Company

January 1959 •English

An American couple tour Britain with a teenage girl, visiting London, Canterbury, Cambridge, the West Country, Caernarvon, etc.

The Canal Map of Britain

March 2024 •English

A look at Britain's beloved canal network via a fact-filled cruise along the first superhighways of the Industrial Revolution. In the age before mechanisation, a frenzy of canal-building saw a new army of workers carve out the British landscape, digging out hundreds of miles of waterways using picks, shovels and muscle.

Inquiry: The Great British Housing Disaster

September 1984 •English

David Jones investigates how 1960s council housing came to be built so poorly that thousands later needed to be demolished.

Carlos Sainz: The Operator

December 2024 •Spanish

The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story

March 2003 •English

The full bizarre, tragic but celebratory story of Syd Barrett, the co-founder of Pink Floyd.

100 Years of British Trains

December 2007 •English

A fascinating compilation tracing the development of British trains throughout the 20th century. This program provides a record of the greatest days of steam; the magnificent express engines developed by the 'Big Four' - the GWR, SR, LNER, and LMS; many famous named trains like the Golden Arrow and the Brighton Belle, the War and Nationalism; and the amazing variety of elder locos from the 1950's.

James Baldwin Abroad

February 2023 •English

Showcasing three short films by American writer James Baldwin, wherein he muses about race, sexuality and civil rights, among other topics, in Istanbul, Paris and Great Britain.

The Battle of the Somme

August 1916 •English

A documentary and propaganda film which shows the British Army's preparations for, and the early stages of, the battle of the Somme.

A Life on the Farm

May 2023 •English

A strange story from Somerset, England about a filmmaking farmer and the inspiring legacy of his long-lost home movies.

The Stasi: Secrets, Lies and British Spies

January 2023 •English

With access to recently-opened court files, Julie Etchingham reveals some of the Stasi's UK operations and asks why its other secrets are yet to be revealed.

The Eagle and the Lion: Hitler vs Churchill

September 2017 •French

Winston Churchill, one of the most revered men of the twentieth century. Adolf Hitler, one of the most hated leaders in contemporary history. Between 1940 and 1945, these two enormously contradictory personalities faced each other in both politics and war. A clash of giants whose story begins in the trenches of the World War I and ends with the debacle of the World War II.

Inge Druckrey: Teaching to See

July 2012 •English

This film is about patient and dedicated teaching, about learning to look and visualize in order to design, about the importance of drawing. It is one designer’s personal experience of issues that face all designers, expressed with sympathy and encouragement, and illustrated with examples of Inge [Druckrey]’s own work and that of grateful generations of her students. There are simple phrases that give insights into complex matters, for example that letterforms are ‘memories of motion.’ Above all, it is characteristic of Inge that in this examination of basic principles the word “beautiful” is used several times.

BMX: Turning Dirt To Gold

March 2021 •English

GCN's James Lowsley-Williams and GMBN's Blake Samson are trading in their usual bikes for ones with much smaller wheels, as they try their hand at two variations of the incredibly varied sport of bicycle motocross. We'll explore the history of BMX to learn about the rise, fall and rebirth of one of cycling's most explosive forms. From racing on the track to landing tricks in skate bowls, what does it take to make it to the top level of BMX?

Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss

October 2012 •English

Actor and writer Mark Gatiss embarks on a chilling journey through European horror cinema, from the silent nightmares of German Expressionism in the 1920s to the Belgian lesbian vampires in the 1970s, from the black-gloved killers of Italian bloody giallo cinema to the ghosts of the Spanish Civil War, and finally reveals how Europe's turbulent 20th century forged its ground-breaking horror tradition.

Baldwin's Nigger

July 1968 •English

James Baldwin and Dick Gregory discuss the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s Great Britain.

King Arthur's Britain: The Truth Unearthed

September 2018 •English

With exclusive access to a major new excavation, Alice Roberts discovers what King Arthur's Britain was like, including surprisingly modern connections we all share with our past.

From the Sea to the Land Beyond

June 2012 •English

From the Sea to the Land Beyond is a film about the British coast made from 100 years of our film heritage stored in the British Film Institute collection, edited by Penny Woolcock with a soundtrack by British Sea Power