Is this Britain's oldest erotic film? Modern viewers might question how genuinely erotic it is, But it certainly pushes the boundaries of what was permissible in 1896 - and there's little doubt that it was intended to titillate. Erotica being what it is, it's possible that other (and perhaps more explicit) examples exist in private hands, but this is certainly the oldest surviving British film of its kind we know of. Also known as A Woman Undressing, the film is credited to Brighton-based pioneer Esmé Collings - making it one of very few of his films to survive. Alongside rather more demure films from around the same time, such as Grandma's Reading Glass (1900) and As Seen Through a Telescope (1900), it demonstrates that early filmmakers - even in these comparatively inhibited islands - were quick to realise the new medium's implicit voyeurism.
If you haven’t already been diverted by the history of John Gilpin, or would like to venture that way again, you couldn’t find a better accompaniment than the drawings of Ronald Searle. The BFI commissioned four films from Halas & Bactchelor to be screened in the “Telekinema” for the Festival of Britain. Pitched as an experiment in combining verse with illustrations, this fourth and last edition was the only one that contained a single work, with plenty of room to breath.
In the wake of massive-scale slum clearance and urban renewal in Sunderland's East End, how can the Church cement and service new communities out on the fringes of town? This heartfelt and earnest film by documentary outfit Selwyn Films examines the landscapes and communities transformed by urban change on Wearside, and highlights some of the Church's activities for families newly rehoused in the suburbs.
(SILENT) - It’s the dawn of the 1960s and the idealism of post-war urban developers is in full view in this film of the birth of one of the largest council estates in Europe. The song ‘Little Boxes’, made famous by Pete Seeger, and written the year after this film, may well have been inspired by it. The Holmewood estate in Bradford looks very appealing, with children out playing and the new tenants clearly very house proud: a view of what promised so much, before it became what it did. This film is one of very many made by the prolific Bradford filmmakers C.H. Wood, who are better known for their films of various motor sports. Presumably this was a film for Bradford City Council to promote the recently completed Holmewood housing estate, with its first tenants. The estate is now run jointly by Bradford Council and a social housing company, Incommunities. Traditionally its population has been white British, but in recent years new groups from different ethnic backgrounds have moved into the area, leading to increased tensions between the settled community and newcomers. However, over the last few years there have been several initiatives aimed at fostering better community relations.
"They're building flats where the houses used to be". 'Flat' might as well be a dirty word in this sobering documentary on Battersea's Doddington and Rollo estate - a vast, high-density development built by Wandsworth Borough Council in the late 60s to house some 7,000 people. Refreshingly, the commentary comes entirely from the mouths of the residents themselves: young mothers, working fathers, elderly women, teenagers and children, who discuss their experiences, particularly the issue of loneliness and isolation. The film was made in 1971 when the estate was still being developed. Just one year later, the tenants' association complained that Doddington was rapidly deteriorating. As one young female resident puts it: "I don't think I'd give these places 20 or 30 years before they become slums. I think I'd give it two or three years, the way they're going at the moment".
Following unrest on the Falkner housing estate in Liverpool, This Week investigates incidents of racially-motivated violence and tension between communities. Interviews with local residents contain strong language as they relate encounters with skinheads, police discrimination and social deprivation. The events can be seen as a prelude to the Toxteth riots which took place nearly a decade later.
The Youth Opportunities Programme or YOP came in under Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan in 1978 and was extended in 1980 by Conservative Margaret Thatcher before being replaced by the Youth Training Scheme or YTS. The programme came in for ridicule socially for allowing employers to exploit school leavers and politically for forcing young people into low-paid training thereby cutting unemployment benefit but failing to curb a rise in youth unemployment. Employers, colleges and Council youth services teamed up with local newspapers, job centres and specialist television programmes to offer support to young unemployed people and educational regional broadcasts include Westward Television’s Just the Job, Ulster Television’s Face the Future and Want a Job, ATV’s Job Hunt, Granada’s Lifeline and STV’s Jobs for the Boys (and girls). General Certificate of Education Ordinary level and Certificate of Secondary Education or CSE were replaced in 1988 by General Certificate of Secondary Education or GCSE but in 2017 the new GCSE system with grades of 9 down to 1 returned to measuring performance relatively against those of competing candidates.