Varieties of Sweet Peas (1911)

The Story of Petroleum

Reel 1, an oil field is located, drilled, brought in, and pumped. Shows the Garber Field in Oklahoma. Reel 2 shows how pipe is laid and cleaned. One section crosses the Red River. Includes views of an oil camp and of a casinghead gasoline extraction plant. Reel 3, oil is distilled at a refinery. Reel 4, wax is removed from oil, processed, and prepared for distribution. Oil products are carried in tank cars, trucks, barges, and ships.

Chicago, Grande Roue

A view of the Ferris wheel from the Chicago Exposition of 1893, turning slowly.

Radeau avec baigneurs

Young people dive into the sea by jumping off a manmade wooden raft, while a small boat loaded with passengers passes by.

Le char funèbre

An impression of the funeral parade for Victoria, Queen of England, filmed in London (via https://catalogue-lumiere.com/le-char-funebre/)

Green Light

Moments of a group of high school students at a party, before the college admission tests start.

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge

A film by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, shot in late October 1888, showing pedestrians and carriages crossing Leeds Bridge.

Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic

The lives of Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), on the screen and behind the curtain. The joy and the sadness, the success and the failure. The story of one of the best comic duos of all time: a lesson on how to make people laugh.

Carmencita

The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.

Decease

Spring comes every year and brings us hope for recovery and development. But time is inexorable and fleeting. Not for everyone will come next spring ...

Speechless: The Polar Realm

Beautifully filmed by New Zealand nature photographer Richard Sidey over the past decade around the polar regions, Speechless: The Polar Realm is a visual meditation of light, life, loss and wonder at the ends of the globe. This is the second film in Sidey’s non-verbal trilogy which is comprised of: - Landscapes at the World’s Ends (2010) - Speechless: The Polar Realm (2015) - Elementa (2020)

Finlandia

A documentary from Erkki Karu, one of the earliest pioneers of Finnish cinema: This government-produced propaganda film introduces the nature, sports, military, agriculture and capital of Finland.

Around China with a Movie Camera

A new film compiled from the BFI National Archive's unparalleled holdings of early films of China, features films from 1900-48 filmed across China. The cinematic journey of Around China with a Movie Camera contains many films which may never have been seen in China, or at the very least not for over 70 years. These travelogues, newsreels and home movies were made by a diverse group of British and French filmmakers, some professionals, but mainly enthusiastic amateurs, including intrepid tourists, colonial-era expatriates and Christian missionaries.

Descent of the Great Pyramid

Descent of the Great Pyramid.

Dresde, vieux quartier à l'Exposition

Visitors at a historical fair in the mediaeval city of Dresden.