Herostratus

Herostratus 1967

6.20

When a young poet hires a marketing company to turn his suicide into a mass-media spectacle, he finds that his subversive intentions are quickly diluted into a reactionary gesture.

1967

Amelia and the Angel

Amelia and the Angel 1958

6.25

A young girl (Amelia) is distressed and feeling guilty about losing the wings she was to wear in her school play. Then she notices an angel and follows the angel into a dark building. Upstairs in the attic, bathed in heavenly light, is an artist's model - the ANGEL. The painter ascends a ladder until he is out of shot - supposedly to heaven-and reappears to restore Amelia's joy with a pair of wings.

1958

Man of Rope

Man of Rope 1961

1

Story of a man in prison, condemned to death, and his subsequent execution. Inspired by "Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde.

1961

Boy and Bicycle

Boy and Bicycle 1965

5.69

A teenage boy plays truant from school, and spends the day riding around the town and the deserted beach on his bicycle, letting his mind wander as he imagines he is the only person in the world...

1965

Together

Together 1956

7.08

The workaday boredom and crushing hardships of London's East End in the 1950s, seen from the point of view of two deaf-mutes who share a strong bond of friendship.

1956

Rowlandson's England

Rowlandson's England 1955

1

England of Thomas Rowlandson's day, seen through his drawings and cartoons.

1955

Alone with the Monsters

Alone with the Monsters 1958

4.50

An old woman apparently tormented by people in the street comforts herself in her room with memories of her youth.

1958

The Peaches

The Peaches 1964

1

A film fantasy concerning the adventures of a modern girl whose passion for peaches is eventu­ally replaced by a very different type of passion.

1964

Round the World in 80 Days

Round the World in 80 Days 1955

1

Animation. Part of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days", depicting scenes in the Reform Club and Phineas Fogg's adventures in India.

1955

A Short Vision

A Short Vision 1956

6.35

The leaders, the wise men, the leopard, the deer, the owl and the rat all look up in the sky in fear as a strange object flies through the sky.

1956

An Untitled Film

An Untitled Film 1964

6.50

A BFI production from 1964, directed by David Gladwell, who is best known as an editor of films like Lindsay Anderson's If.... (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973). This short was shot at 200 fps, depicting a series of pastoral scenes from a British farm, edited to produce a suggestion of violence in contrast to its visual beauty.

1964

13 Cantos of Hell

13 Cantos of Hell 1955

5.00

This interpretation of 13 cantos from the first part of Dante's The Divine Comedy is dedicated to Carl Koch and Lotte Reiniger, the husband-and-wife team who pioneered the technique of silhouette animation.

1955

In Separation

In Separation 1965

1

In Separation - of what from what? Sound, image; cause, consequence; people? The breaking apart of a relationship is exteriorised far beyond the taut emotional inner worlds of a young Brighton couple in this highly concentrated, sharp 60s short.

1965

Nice Time

Nice Time 1957

6.00

A montage of the night-life of Piccadilly Circus across the hours, from early evening to the last lingering passers-by.

1957

Animated Genesis

Animated Genesis 1952

6.00

The story of the evolution of life on Earth in animated form.

1952

Ten Bob in Winter

Ten Bob in Winter 1963

5.00

An unemployed black student borrows ten shillings from a friend, then lends the money to a musician he has just met.

1963

Circus at Clopton Hall

Circus at Clopton Hall 1961

1

On a summer's day, a group of children improvise a circus at an abandoned farm in Suffolk.

1961

The First Step

The First Step 1961

1

A child discovers her ambition on her first day at a new school. First act of a three-act ballet, "The Choice", with music by Tchaikovsky.

1961

Miss Thompson Goes Shopping

Miss Thompson Goes Shopping 1958

7.00

Adaptation of Martin Armstrong's poem about an elderly lady who becomes perturbed by something we can't see. It becomes apparent that she is looking for her past, lost in a memory or the clutches of nostalgia. Miss Thompson's shopping trip to town is in chaotic contrast to the tranquil nature of her lonely home, which on return seems like paradise.

1958