Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
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Once Upon a Farm
Beryl Armstrong's gently polemical film extolls the value of rare farm breeds, which could one day meet future challenges and demands
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Overview
This colour film, made by Beryl Armstrong, is both a commentary and critique of modern day farming methods. The film showcases a variety of rare breeds including ducks, goats, sheep, cattle, horses, poultry and pigs of all shapes, sizes and colours, with a little of their histories thrown in. Beryl argues that keeping such breeds alive ensures the survival of future livestock farming should anything happen to wipe out more standardised, intensively farmed breeds.
New Zealand born Beryl Armstrong has, in her lifetime, made well over 100 films, many of which capture various aspects of rural life in Sussex and Hampshire, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Beryl began making films while she was living in India and over the years entered many of her films into local amateur festivals and competitions. She also taught her sons Richard and Anthony, who appear in several of her films, the art of filmmaking. Both went on to create amateur film collections of their own ranging from short documentaries to comedies and animations. Beryl is also the successful author of twelve published novels.
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