John Grierson Movies

A stark warning about Britain’s coal-fired smog, charting its damage to health, buildings, and the economy while advocating cleaner...

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

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

Marionette parody of Buster Keaton.

A look at how Scotland's water is being used to bring power to the Highlands.

Life on a farm at springtime, including blossom, piglets and ducklings.

Marionette parody of Cherry Kearton.

Short documentary about British education in the late 1930s.

Marionette parody of Tom Mix.

Early documentary, slung together from footage depicting the first invasion of North America by Europeans, designed to show industrial technology's...

A record of an educational experiment in the small town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

“Catching up with gossip, inspecting new ducklings, clambering over gates, walking across meadows - the life of a postman appears idyllic, but...

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

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

Part of BFI collection "Police and Thieves."

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

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

Highlights of the life of John Grierson, documentary film-maker

Short documentary showing the workings of a large London sorting office.

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