Photographic Studies in Hypnosis: Abnormal Psychology

Das Voynich-Manuskript - Die geheimnisvollste Handschrift der Welt

May 2014 •German

It is the world’s most mysterious manuscript. A book, written by an unknown author, illustrated with pictures that are as bizarre as they are puzzling — and written in a language that even the best cryptographers have been unable to decode. No wonder that this script even has a part in Dan Brown’s latest bestseller “The Lost Symbol”.

Watch Out for Orcas! Danger Off Gibraltar?

February 2024 •German

Since the summer of 2020, boats along the Atlantic coast from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Bay of Biscay in the north have been repeatedly attacked by orcas. The whales purposefully attack the rudders and destroy them. Researchers are trying to find out what drives them. Curiosity? Competition for food? Or play?

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

September 1927 •German

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Around China with a Movie Camera

July 2016 •English

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.

The Giza Pyramids: Reaching for the Stars

September 2023 •French

Explores the Pyramids of Giza as Egyptologists try to unravel the mysteries and decipher the clues behind these stone giants built over 4,500 years ago.

Nanook of the North

June 1922 •English

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Crabs and Shrimp

December 1930 •French

Jean Painlevé is interested here, with the help of Eli Lotar, in crabs and shrimps. He is particularly interested in detailing their anatomy and observing their mating and fighting behavior.

Weaving Women

December 1905 •Macedonian

A group of Macedonian women are shown hard at work.

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

August 1909 •English

Documentary footage of the author and his two daughters at home.

One Second in Montreal

September 1969 •English

A silent succession of black-and-white photographs of the city of Montreal.

The Celebration of Saint George

September 1905 •Macedonian

Early Balkan footage.

The Defilee of Army Orchestra, Carriages and Horsemen

September 1908 •Macedonian

Early Balkan footage.

Lumiere's First Picture Shows

September 2013 •English

An overview of the works of French film pioneers Louis and Auguste Lumière from 1895 to 1897.

Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic

December 2011 •German

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.

How Animated Cartoons Are Made

September 1919 •English

Wallace Carlson walks viewers through the production of an animated short at Bray Studios.

Die Sonne

February 2024 •German

New York Portrait, Chapter III

March 1990 •English

"[Hutton’s] latest urban film, New York Portrait, Chapter III, takes on a unique tone in relation to Hutton’s ongoing exploration of rural landscape. The very fact that Hutton is dealing with older footage, with archives of memory more than immediacy, gives it a different texture than his earlier New York films. Hutton always found the presence of nature in the city, not only in his many shots of sky and vegetation, but also in the geometry and texture of the city itself, which seemed to project an independence from the human." (Tom Gunning)

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge

October 1888 •

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

Carmencita

March 1894 •

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.

Haulout

October 2024 •Russian

On a remote coast of the Russian Arctic in a wind-battered hut, a lonely man waits to witness an ancient gathering. But warming seas and rising temperatures bring an unexpected change, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed.