Rentals
Documentaries
Fresh perspectives on familiar themes give a new relevance, as proven by our choice of the best in modern documentaries.
Documentaries can be as lyrical, expressive and experimental as any work of fiction while presenting different ways of seeing. What unites these choices is the themes of place and identity, focusing on the British landscape, its coastline and cities. History also plays a role thanks the expert use of archive footage from Penny Woolcock and Julien Temple.
I Am BelfastI Am Belfast
Documentary 2016 84 minsDirector: Mark Cousins
Mark Cousins’ dreamlike evocation of his home city discovers a capital of rich history and startling beauty.
Innocence of MemoriesInnocence of Memories
Documentary 2016 97 minsDirector: Grant Gee
A multi-layered melding of fiction and fact, about Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk and his Istanbul Museum of Innocence.
From the Sea to the Land BeyondFrom the Sea to the Land Beyond
Documentary 2012 73 minsDirector: Penny Woolcock
This fascinating and moving film by award-winning director Penny Woolcock is a lyrical portrait of Britain's coastline which features a score by British Sea Power.
London the Modern BabylonLondon the Modern Babylon
Documentary 2012 128 minsDirector: Julien Temple
The story of London told through a century of popular music and film archive treasures.
Night Will FallNight Will Fall
Documentary 2014 75 minsDirector: André Singer
An unforgettable, compelling account of the production and subsequent restoration of a withheld film recording the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945.
The Nine MusesThe Nine Muses
Documentary 2012 92 minsDirector: John Akomfrah
John Akomfrah mixes archive material, literary and musical quotations and newly shot silent footage in a wry, rapt meditation on memory and migration.
This Our Still LifeThis Our Still Life
Documentary 2011 56 minsDirector: Andrew Kötting
23-year-old Eden is shown drawing and painting still lifes in her Pyrenean family home.
The Stuart Hall ProjectThe Stuart Hall Project
Documentary 2013 99 minsDirector: John Akomfrah
Composed of film, music and photographs from the archives, a fascinating portrait of the life and times of the founder of cultural studies and the New Left Experience.
SwandownSwandown
Documentary 2012 107 minsDirector: Andrew Kötting
Filmmaker Andrew Kötting and writer Iain Sinclair embark on a quest from Hastings to East London by pedalo.
Welcome to BritainWelcome to Britain
Documentary 1976 73 minsDirector: Ben Lewin
Ben Lewin’s 1976 film captures a moment in Britain's evergreen immigration debate, focusing on new arrivals at Heathrow as they wrestle with immigration law.