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Film & Video

Film and Video Archive

Search the Film and Video Database on Collections Online

Online access to over 23,000 Film and Video Archive catalogue records, plus a remote enquiry and appointment service via MyList.

The Film and Video Archive holds some 120 million feet of film and 6,500 hours of video tape. A large proportion of material has been transferred to the Museum from the Services and other public bodies as the Archive is the official repository for such public record films.

The First World War

The original First World War collection comprised over 1,000 items of film relating mainly to the last three years of the war. Highlights of the collections include the original 1916 record of The Battle of the Somme, home front material like Mrs John Bull Prepared (1918), a substantial run of the French official newsreel Annales de la Guerre and the remarkable record of German U-boat operations in the Mediterranean in 1917, Der Magische Gurtel.

The Second World War

The backbone of the collection is the uncut record footage filmed by combat cameramen. Other material includes the Oscar-winning The True Glory (1945); major British documentaries such as Target for Tonight (1941); official and private records of life in wartime ranging from Wales: Green Mountain, Black Mountain (1942, scripted by Dylan Thomas) to 16mm colour film shot by amateur camerawoman Rosie Newman. Films from allies and enemies include Frank Capra's Why We Fight series, a large number of Soviet newsreels, and German propaganda films such as Triumph des Willens (1935).

Contemporary Collections

Image from the United Nations Television Yugoslavia Collection

The Archive holds the former library of NATO documenting the diplomatic and military history of European security to the end of the Cold War. The extensive footage received from UNTV Zagreb illustrates the conflict in former Yugoslavia and United Nations peace-keeping efforts.

Amateur Films

Rosie Newman collection - still from 'Britain at War' 1940 - bombed building on fire

The Archive holds a number of privately shot 'home movies' of life in wartime, such as the lively Elworth School Presents School Life in Wartime, made by a Cheshire primary school during the Second World War, and Britain at War, an amateur film made by Rosie Newman in 1940.

Awards

The Film and Video Archive received the FOCAL International (Federation of Commercial Audio Visual Libraries) Award 2004 for the 'Best Content Library'....'Having provided a consistent and user-friendly service for many years aided in 2003 by the launch of an on-line catalogue. The knowledge of the staff as regards their collection is of the highest order...(and) makes them a worthy recipient of this first FOCAL Award.'

The Imperial War Museum received the 2002 International Documentary Association (IDA) Preservation and Scholarship Award which is reserved for 'an individual or organization that has made substantial and enduring contributions to non-fiction filmmaking'.

IDA President Michael Donaldson said: 'The Imperial War Museum has preserved tens of millions of feet of film that are unique records of events that shaped world history during the past century. The Museum's archive is an incomparably valuable resource for scholars, students and filmmakers. The dedication of the IWM staff ensures that these irreplaceable records of our history will endure.'