The Great British Home Movie

This new collection offers unique perspectives on Britain’s social history and opens windows on distant cultures. Our astonishing range of non-professional films presents some 40 hours of vivid images: intimate portraits of a changing world.

The Great British Home Movie celebrates the non-professional filmmakers whose work – or play – is fascinating and valuable precisely because they were amateurs.

Ten to try

Yellow Week at Stanway (1923)

J.M. Barrie’s whimsical home-movie record of a summer house party in the Cotswolds.

The Scarlet Woman (1924)

Catholic fantasy starring Evelyn Waugh in an Andy Warhol fright wig.

Maharajah of Jodhpur – Personal Films (1928-47)

See India from a royal perspective with these home movie records of princely power and sumptuous ceremony.

T.H. Brown Amateur Films (1930-37)

Wonderful, unique home movies made by a Middlesbrough dentist.

Amy Johnson Family Films (1932-3)

Glimpse a different side to the pioneering aviator in this selection of home movie extracts.

Great Hucklow Jubilee Film (1935)

Jubilee celebrations in a Derbyshire village.

Sir Basil Gould’s Films of Tibet (1936-41)

Remarkable colour footage of Tibet – including shots of the current Dalai Lama as a young boy.

London Adventure with the Wetton Family (1951)

One family’s edited home movie recording the magic of the Festival of Britain.

North London Liberal Jewish Group (1956)

Fabulous home movie footage of the annual competition between the Finchley and Ealing teams of the North London Liberal Jewish Group.

The Captain Zip Video Trip (1978-81)

Amateur films of the punk scene in London.