John Grierson Movies

A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival...

When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to...

Made to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the London County Council, responsible for many of the changes celebrated in the film – modern...

An Irish "oracle" foretells the next day's track results to a newspaperman, resulting in a national uproar.

Norman McLaren was a cinematic genius who made films without cameras, and music without instruments. He produced sixty films in a stunning range of...

In this delightful fantasy adventure, a mild-mannered writer of adventure stories for girls finds himself presented with an intriguing proposition...

At Balloch Moss mine in Scotland, water comes through a seam bringing a torrent of mud into the mine and flooding the pit shaft, resulting in 118 men...

A film made by the British General Post Office (GPO) in 1933, promoting the automation of telephone exchanges.

Ada Shore (Diane Hart) arrives at Skerryvore University in Scotland in search of her long-lost uncle Connell O’Grady (Joseph Tomelty), who was...

A boy pursues his ambition to be a jockey

The history of Scotland and the factors that have shaped the character of its people.

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have...

A behind-the-scenes GPO Film Unit documentary (directed by Stuart Legg) that races from studio rehearsals and newsrooms to control rooms and...

Part of BFI collection "Police and Thieves."

A Cockney lad trains to be a messenger boy.

Developed from John Grierson's opportunistic recruitment of the well-known director and anthropologist Robert Flaherty, Industrial Britain provides a...

1935 documentary about the hard working life of Welsh coal miners.

Ambitious documentary chronicling the cultural life and religious customs of the Sinhalese and the effects of advanced industrialism on such customs.

Farming techniques and modern methods bring new crops to market.

Documentary about shipbuilding on the Clyde. In 1960, Glasgow and other towns and ports on the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland, were still...