New device available: Amazon Fire TV

This film is part of Free

Title of error

Cardigan Rd, Kilburn (Fun Palace outtakes)

Lost London: fun and vibrant life on a Kilburn street, demolished soon after in slum clearances

1963 3 mins Silent

Overview

A fragment of lost London: a once-lively residential street in north-west London, Cardigan Road NW16 no longer exists. While this film shows the locals chatting, playing or hanging out on their front steps, not long after it was shot, the whole street, just off Kilburn Park Road, was demolished as part of the postwar slum clearance programme.

This footage was shot for a film to support theatre director and filmmaker Joan Littlewood's idea for a 'Fun Palace' - a huge movable construction that would house education and entertainment attractions. In 1963 Littlewood shot 60 reels of 16mm rushes around London to show what people currently did for leisure and to demonstrate that something else was needed. The film was finished but is now lost, and sadly Joan's Fun Palace never got built. However, the rushes paint a fantastic picture of the period, with many expertly filmed by cameraman Walter Lassally, who also shot We are the Lambeth Boys and A Taste of Honey.

Director

Joan Littlewood

Country

United Kingdom

Location

Kilburn

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Subjects

Underprivileged children

Watch for free

Wilf Hutchinson Woodcarver Wilf Hutchinson Woodcarver

Factual TV 1983 4 mins Location: Kilburn

Kilburn’s master woodworker, Wilf Hutchinson, offers an in-depth guide to the craftsmanship behind his oak furniture.

Watch for free

Wonders of Yorkshire Wonders of Yorkshire

Amateur film 1974 10 mins Location: Kilburn

Rocks resembling alien creatures, a giant white horse, wooden mice, a cave where a famous prophetess lived, and a teddy turned to stone.

Watch for free

Red Red

Drama 1995 26 mins Location: Kilburn

Beautiful, bittersweet tale of love, longing and Elvis. Xiao Mei leaves China for marriage in Britain. But her true desire is to find her family.

Watch for free

Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 24 mins

Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

Watch for free

Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 30 mins

Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell

Documentary 2024 42 mins

Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels

Short documentary 2024 12 mins

Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.