Jewish people - and a few Gentiles - muse on what it means to be Jewish in 1960s Britain. The challenges of maintaining faith and culture outside Israel, and in a society where ‘Jewish’ and ‘English’ are seen as mutually exclusive identities are perceptively explored in this astute documentary. Some secular Jews are keen to distance themselves from traditional Judaism and especially Zionism (one defines himself simply as a Marxist). Gentiles are on hand to cheerfully perpetuate some of the old stereotypes, and we’re treated to colourful snapshots of the Jewish community in London: the rag trade, a kosher butcher and restaurant.
Moving to Mars (2009)
Moving to Mars charts the epic journey made by two Burmese families from a vast refugee camp on the Thai/Burma border to their new homes in the UK. At times hilarious, at times emotional, their travels provide a fascinating and unique insight not only into the effects of migration, but also into one of the most important current political crises - Burma.
Voices of Hope (2023)
This British documentary looks at 40 years of the London Community Gospel Choir, focusing on co-founder Bazil Meade who travelled to the United Kingdom from Montserrat as a boy.
I Don't Like Mondays (2006)
A documentary about the killing spree of Brenda Spencer, the 16-year-old schoolgirl who opened fire on a school playground in January 1979, killing two men and injuring eight children. Her only explanation of her actions was "I don't like Mondays". This incident was the first ever school shooting of its kind, and inspired the Boomtown Rats' number one hit song I Don't Like Mondays
Interview With A Murderer (2016)
A famed criminologist reexamines the evidence in this powerful interview with murderer Bert Spencer, suspected in the killing a paperboy in 1978.
The Rock Tours Around Great Britain, 2006-2007 (2007)
The Rock Touring Around Great Britain is a performance piece by Chinese artist He Yunchang that involved a walking circumambulation of Great Britain from September 23, 2006 to June 14, 2007. Starting from the hamlet of Rock, Northumberland, the artist walked to the nearby town of Boulmer where he selected a rock which he then carried counterclockwise until he returned it to the precise location from which it was taken. As the artist commented, the work was primarily "an attempt to represent the iron will of an individual and the living conditions of his being with simple and pure methods."
Rebellion (2023)
In April 2019, Extinction Rebellion blocks strategic traffic points in London for days, leading to the arrest of hundreds of nonviolent protesters. Rebellion works, responds international climate lawyer Farhana Yamin, seeming almost surprised when the government agrees to their demand to declare a climate emergency.
100 Per Cent White (2000)
A decade after taking a series of photographs of skinhead members of a far-right group for his book Public Enemies, Leo Regan returns to three members of the gang to see what has happened to them in the intervening years.
The Great Hack (2019)
Data—arguably the world’s most valuable asset—is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable, personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.
A Queer City (2020)
A documentary following three young nascent drag artists as they navigate a rising queer scene in Norwich City - a place wherein they express their queerness and identities freely through performance, visual artistry, and community.
The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire (2017)
At the demise of empire, City of London financial interests created a web of offshore secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it behind obscure financial structures in a web of offshore islands. Today, up to half of global offshore wealth may be hidden in British offshore jurisdictions and Britain and its offshore jurisdictions are the largest global players in the world of international finance. How did this come about, and what impact does it have on the world today? This is what the Spider's Web sets out to investigate.
Divorce Denied (2019)
No Jewish divorce is complete without the man literally giving the woman her freedom back. With Israel having neither civil marriage nor divorce, women can get trapped. The film follows several such "chained" women together with Batya, a religious lawyer, who embarks on a struggle against the rabbinical courts.
James Bulger: The New Revelations (2018)
25 years after the verdict in the Jamie Bulger murder trial, we reveal what the jury, public and press never heard, and what his two killers, Thompson and Venables, said during their time in custody from arrest to release.
Volvo City (1991)
Stamford Hill in North London is home to a community of 30,000 Hasidic Jews. Aiming to preserve a way of life they had in eighteenth century Poland and living strictly according to over 600 Biblical commandments brings them into conflict with modern life. They have embraced one aspect fully though, the Volvo Estate car.
The Coronation of King George V (1911)
Various shots of the Coronation procession for King George V.
Awake Zion (2013)
Awake Zion explores the connections between Rasta, Reggae and Judaism, through one woman's beat-laden adventure into the meaning of identity. All the way back to the alleged sultry affair between the Jewish King Solomon and the African Queen of Sheba, Jewish influence is evident in the spiritual history of Ethiopia - turning up subtly in Rastafarian lifestyle and then, inevitably, in reggae. Unravelling the story of this unlikely kinship, Awake Zion unites Jewish and Jamaican musicians, scholars, and historians in a celebration roots and culture - traveling from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where Caribbean and Jewish cultures share a history of adversity - to Jamaica, the birthplace of reggae - and ultimately to Israel, where a sizzling reggae scene thrives today. Awake Zion examines the preconceptions of what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be Rasta, what it means to be white or black - and, most importantly, the universal search for what it means to be "home".
Look at Life: Shopping by the Ton (1960)
A visit to Smithfield Market, Covent Garden and Billingsgate, at their busiest time, the early morning.
Look at Life: Down London River (1959)
Take a history tour on the River Thames. Lots of famous footage: Parliament, Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Port of London, Cleopatra's Needle and much more!
Think of England (1999)
Shown as part of the BBC's Modern Times series. Think of England shows Parr talking to the many people he encountered in the summer of 1999. He innocently asked people what it took to be English, and this simple question provided many revealing answers.
Charles R: The Making of a Monarch (2023)
This is the story of how a prince became a king, a revealing portrait of our new monarch across the seven decades he spent as heir to the throne. It’s a journey from cradle to crown told almost solely in his own words, from film and television recordings to private home movies and featuring a wealth of material, some of which has never been seen before. As well as drawing on home movies from the Royal Collection, the film-makers were given exclusive access to sequences featuring the prince, shot for the landmark 1969 film Royal Family, including private unseen moments.