Dan Cruickshank and the Family That Built Gothic Britain

The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire(en)

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.

Sex, Death & Eyeliner(en)

Documentary directed by W.K. Border, that which dives into the aspects of contemporary Gothic subculture, vampirism, and BDSM culture. Filmed in 1997 in California.

Mark of the Hand(en)

Guyanese painter Aubrey Williams (1926-1990) returns to his homeland on a “journey to the source of his inspiration” in this vivid Arts Council documentary, filmed towards the end of his life. The title comes from the indigenous Arawak word ‘timehri’ - the mark of the hand of man - which Williams equates to art itself. Timehri was also then the name of the international airport at Georgetown, Guyana's capital, where Williams stops off to restore an earlier mural. The film offers a rare insight into life beyond Georgetown, what Williams calls “the real Guyana.” Before moving to England in 1952 he had been sent to work on a sugar plantation in the jungle; this is his first chance to revisit the region and the Warao Indians - formative influences on his work - in four decades. Challenging the ill-treatment of indigenous Guyanese, Williams explored the potential of art to change attitudes. By venturing beyond his British studio, this film puts his work into vibrant context.

Think of England(en)

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.

Goths Make Better Lovers(en)

"A short film about the love too miserable to speak its name. Goths Make Better Lovers asks why do Goths always have boyfriends? Goths, so often the victims of wry asides, mild pity or open scorn have much to teach their more colourful bretheren when it comes to affairs of the heart. Because Goths always appear to be in a relationship - and obtusely, these relationships appear to be happier than the non-Goth kind."

North Korea; Off-Piste(en)

Having been granted special permission to film inside one of the most secretive countries in the world, Britain's fastest snowboarder sets off to experience first hand this country we know so little about.

Mysterium Gotik - Als die Kathedralen in den Himmel wuchsen(de)

The Canal Map of Britain(en)

A look at Britain's beloved canal network via a fact-filled cruise along the first superhighways of the Industrial Revolution. In the age before mechanisation, a frenzy of canal-building saw a new army of workers carve out the British landscape, digging out hundreds of miles of waterways using picks, shovels and muscle.

Britain's Favourite Foods - Are They Good for You?(en)

Professor Alice Roberts discovers which are Britain's most popular fresh foods and uses the latest science to uncover the surprising health benefits of our favourite foods.

Mistr Theodorik(cs)

Attack: The Battle for New Britain(en)

War - Documentary film depicting the attack by Allied forces on the Japanese strong-holds of Arawe Beach and Cape Gloucester, New Britain, in the South Pacific theatre of the Second World War in 1943. - Leo Genn, Burgess Meredith, Anthony Veiller

Pugin: God's Own Architect(en)

Augustus Northmore Welby Pugin is far from being a household name, yet he designed the iconic clock tower of Big Ben as well as much of the Palace of Westminster. The 19th-century Gothic revival that Pugin inspired, with its medieval influences and soaring church spires, established an image of Britain which still defines the nation. Richard Taylor charts Pugin's extraordinary life story and discovers how his work continues to influence Britain today.

Bats, Balls and Bradford Girls(en)

This BBC Three film follows the first all Asian girls’ cricket team over the summer holidays as they train for their last ever tournament together. The team started at school four years ago when their only experience of cricket was their dads and brothers watching it on the TV. In spite of this, they took to it like naturals and began winning almost all of the tournaments they entered. Last year they lost out on becoming National champions at Lords by only one run.

Imperial Sunset(en)

This short satirical film, created entirely from archival footage, is about the British Empire—on which the sun never sets. The majority of the humour and wit is found in the interplay between image and sound: what we see during the formative days of the Empire, and what famous servants had to say about it. Edited by Oscar®-nominated experimental filmmaker Arthur Lipsett (Very Nice, Very Nice).

The Lost World of the Seventies(en)

Michael Cockerell sheds new light on the tragi-comedy of the 1970s by focusing on some of its most controversial characters. With fresh filming and new interviews, along with a treasure trove of rare archive, the film presents the inside story of giant personalities who make today's public figures look sadly dull in comparison. The well-known journalist revisits some of his films on the big characters who helped shaped the 1970s in Britain. Both tragic and comic, it highlights just how much our world has changed in four decades.

Air Parade(en)

A brief history of British aviation and the development of both civil and military aircraft. Made for the Festival of Britain.

Britain Through a Lens - The Documentary Film Mob(en)

There Go the Boats(en)

An historical account looking at how Britain's canals were used, and declining, in 1951.

Phantasia(xx)

X-ray images were invented in 1895, the same year in which the Lumière brothers presented their respective invention in what today is considered to be the first cinema screening. Thus, both cinema and radiography fall within the scopic regime inaugurated by modernity. The use of X-rays on two sculptures from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum generates images that reveal certain elements of them that would otherwise be invisible to our eyes. These images, despite being generally created for technical or scientific purposes, seem to produce a certain form of 'photogénie': they lend the radiographed objects a new appearance that lies somewhere between the material and the ethereal, endowing them with a vaporous and spectral quality. It is not by chance that physics and phantasmagoria share the term 'spectrum' in their vocabulary.

The Intruder: He's Watching You From Within(en)

In the blistering hot summer of 1984, a sadistic predator is terrorising rural Britain. This is the story of the desperate police manhunt for The Fox, one of the most prolific and depraved offenders in British criminal history.