John Grierson Movies

The life and work of the documentary pioneer.

Animated shapes dance to Cuban music. This was one of the first animations to be painted directly onto the film.

An impressionistic portrait of the BBC.

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

This documentary short examines the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in Scotland on the...

Documentary following an Edinburgh fishing trawler, the "Isabella Grieg".

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

Seeking her long lost uncle, Ada Shore arrives at Skerryvore University to find him working under another name as the Gate Keeper. Ada is mistaken by...

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...

Grierson set out to make "propaganda," and this film--with it's voice-over proclaiming the great value of the British industrial worker, without a...

The Brave Don't Cry aspires to the "feel" of a documentary, right down to the deliberate absence of background music. A mine in Scotland falls victim...

Humphrey Jennings' first film as a director, a brief overview of the British postal service.

A boy pursues his ambition to be a jockey

A silent film by John Grierson. It tells the story of Britain's North Sea herring fishery.

Marionette parody of Cherry Kearton.

A BFI-produced documentary about documentary filmmaker John Grierson speaking about documentary.

Marionette parody of Charlie Chaplin.

Marionette parody of Tom Mix.

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

Part of BFI collection "Police and Thieves."