Alberto Cavalcanti

This film is based on actual letters German soldiers sent home from the siege of Leningrad during World War II. The litany of trouble these poor grunts endured is lamentable. One complains of returning home an invalid. An SS man has bad dreams about the Russian tank-driver he killed. Another complains when he sits down to hear a piano recital and one of the musicians has frozen fingers. Another soldier swears he will never forgive his father for injuries he suffered in the invasion of Leningrad. Stock footage of wars from World War II to Vietnam are inserted and give an ironic tinge to the feature.

Alberto Cavalcanti reviews his own prolific career as a filmmaker.

The first behind-the-scenes documentary in the film industry, from the making of a camera (Debrie) to studio shooting and directing, including animation techniques. Pierre Chenal meets André Rigal who executes, in his workshop, a series of freehand drawings. These sketches are then ground in a coffee grinder, from which a cartoon on film emerges. In Champigny, Alain Saint-Ogan and his host are working on Zig et Puce and developing Alfred the penguin's first steps. In Fontenay-sous-Bois, Ladislas Starewitch presents his future stars. Pierre Chenal described his film as follows: “I had designed to shoot a documentary in which I would show how a film is made in order, at the same time, to learn it myself. "

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.

A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term 'documentary film'.

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.

The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.

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

An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.

A man from the countryside becomes London’s newest music hall sensation, and competes with a rival music hall performer for the audience’s attention.

After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.

A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.

In this drama, a frustrated upper-class writer decides that he will find real inspiration by examining his subjects first-hand. This leads him to begin wandering about the seamiest side of town where he witnesses a murder. When an innocent man is arrested, the writer refuses to assist him as the knowledge that he has been "slumming" could destroy his career. The young man is sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Le P'tite Lili is a short film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti in 1927. This is a visual illustration of a song, The Lady of gravel and Benech Lilie, with music for the audio version of 1930 by Darius Milhaud. Only one original copy of this tragic story and impressionistic. The film tells the story of Lili ( Frau Catherine Hessling ), a 16 year old orphan who has lost her whole family but has retained her purity and innocence. Alas, a terrible doom awaits this optimistic child: in the slums of Paris she will meet a man who will lead her into prostitution.

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

A woman marries a gambler, thinking she could straighten him up, but he loses all their assets, even their own house, and tries to commit suicide. But one of the winners falls for his stepdaughter, and this could change the situation.

A nobleman decides to join a traveling group of actors to be with a girl he admires, but ultimately must rescue her from bandits

Drama-documentary, reconstructing a real incident in which a trawler got into difficulties in a North Sea storm. Released 7th March 1938.

The life of a great city (Paris) from dawn until dusk, including the beautiful and the ragged, the rich and the poor.

A one-eyed businessman wants to become rich and retrieve his lost eye at any cost. He tries many schemes, and eventually regains his eye with a vengeance: the power of invisibility. He becomes multi millionaire in the meat market and after entering politics he is elected president of Brazil.

A one-eyed businessman wants to become rich and retrieve his lost eye at any cost. He tries many schemes, and eventually regains his eye with a vengeance: the power of invisibility. He becomes multi millionaire in the meat market and after entering politics he is elected president of Brazil.

A brisk GPO Film Unit promo for the Post Office Savings Bank: pub talk and daydream vignettes tout penny-by-penny thrift, peaking in a playful Norman McLaren passage where household furniture springs to life—selling the idea that “many a little makes a lot.”

In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.

This first film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s play about class distinctions was made in 1955 in the Vienna Rosenhügel studios, but it was only premiered five years later. Curt Bois plays the rich capitalist Puntila who only becomes somewhat agreeable when he is drunk (which he is most of the time in this film). In his inebriated state, Puntila not only gets amorously involved with three different ladies but also suggests that his daughter Eva marries his chauffeur Matti. The chauffeur, however, doesn’t really agree…

In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.

The ill-fated romance of a brow-beaten seaport slum café waitress and a young man with a possessive mother, who dreams of going out to sea.

The operation of a floating sea fort during WWII, and the lives of those who work on board.

Deals with the training of Fleet Air Arm pilots and crew during World War II.

British war documentary

How news of a general reduction in GPO charges was finally brought to parliament and the people, despite attempts by the country's enemies to prevent the announcement...

A behind-the-scenes GPO Film Unit documentary (directed by Stuart Legg) that races from studio rehearsals and newsrooms to control rooms and transmitters, weaving speeches, music, and outside broadcasts—featuring voices like H. G. Wells and Ramsay MacDonald—into a kinetic portrait of how the BBC’s national “voice” is made.

Where he goes, he doesn't need luggage... A very talkative traveler settles in the only wagon occupied by a man with a strange diction. The train is moving forward, everything becomes worrying around it. Unable to get out of its cabin, the train runs at full speed. What if he didn't lead anywhere?

There is a lot of excitement in the high society of Venice: An Arab prince, who always travels incognito, is said to be in the city. By chance, the elegant Isabella gets to know the handsome heir to the throne - and it does not take long for her to fall madly in love with him. Isabella has no idea that her dream man is really the impostor Gérard, who looks remarkably like the prince and was hounded by the sleazy crook Alfredo on Isabella to steal their precious jewelry.

This is 1929: the little red riding hood is still with us and her life is more complicated than ever. She still has to go through the forest and she once again comes up against a wolf. This time around the big bad wolf has become a lecherous tramp who keeps stalking the girl trying to wolf her down ... in his own way of course.

This is 1929: the little red riding hood is still with us and her life is more complicated than ever. She still has to go through the forest and she once again comes up against a wolf. This time around the big bad wolf has become a lecherous tramp who keeps stalking the girl trying to wolf her down ... in his own way of course.

This is 1929: the little red riding hood is still with us and her life is more complicated than ever. She still has to go through the forest and she once again comes up against a wolf. This time around the big bad wolf has become a lecherous tramp who keeps stalking the girl trying to wolf her down ... in his own way of course.

Using edited archive footage, mockery is made of Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini.

In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.

The author J.B. Priestley delivers a talk about cross-border trade and communications as a benign force, which he contrasts with the military preoccupations of individual nations.

A re-creation of a bombing raid on Hanover, with the objective of promoting war savings bonds.

Captures the role played by the Royal Navy in the defence of Britain, and their role in convoy escort.

A French-language Free French propaganda short made in wartime London: Germaine Sablon performs three resistance songs—most notably the first filmed performance of “Le Chant des Partisans” (music: Anna Marly; lyrics: Joseph Kessel & Maurice Druon)—for morale and circulation among Free French forces; Cavalcanti’s film was shown to troops in Britain and Canada and conceived for clandestine delivery to partisans.

Documentary about the construction of tlephone lines.

Documentary about the construction of tlephone lines.

The laying of underground telephone cables.

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

The story of three children who find themselves with a friendly monster that grows at an alarming rate.

Marina, a beautiful young woman with leprous parents, marries a shipyard owner to escape an institution. She moves to a coastal village, faces gossip, and is assaulted by her husband’s partner. After her husband dies in a boat accident, a handsome sailor arrives, and Marina is blackmailed about her family’s health issues.

An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.

An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.

The administrator of an abandoned coffee farm and inveterate gambler saves money to buy the property, even knowing of the loving connections between his wife and the boss.

Marina, a beautiful young woman with leprous parents, marries a shipyard owner to escape an institution. She moves to a coastal village, faces gossip, and is assaulted by her husband’s partner. After her husband dies in a boat accident, a handsome sailor arrives, and Marina is blackmailed about her family’s health issues.

This first film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s play about class distinctions was made in 1955 in the Vienna Rosenhügel studios, but it was only premiered five years later. Curt Bois plays the rich capitalist Puntila who only becomes somewhat agreeable when he is drunk (which he is most of the time in this film). In his inebriated state, Puntila not only gets amorously involved with three different ladies but also suggests that his daughter Eva marries his chauffeur Matti. The chauffeur, however, doesn’t really agree…

The production of King George V's Silver Jubilee (1910-1935) special postage stamp, and a brief dramatised history of the development of the penny post.

A British documentary

Alberto Cavalcanti reviews his own prolific career as a filmmaker.

A nurse falls in love with her patient and secretly marries him. When treating another patient, he falls in love with her and, pretending to be in agony, asks for one last wish: to marry him, and she accepts.

“Musical performers Henry Hall and his Orchestra hog the limelight in this promotional film, ostensibly for Ascot gas water heaters.” - BFI.

“Musical performers Henry Hall and his Orchestra hog the limelight in this promotional film, ostensibly for Ascot gas water heaters.” - BFI.

“Musical performers Henry Hall and his Orchestra hog the limelight in this promotional film, ostensibly for Ascot gas water heaters.” - BFI.

The whimsical Riquet's has kidnapped and married a well-born young girl, Ralda. They travel around Spain performing their act in a circus but Ralda's beauty arouses the director's lust. Furious at being rejected, he opens a lion's cage during Ralda's act, leaving her seriously injured. With Ralda's family on their trail, the young people set off to find a better life elsewhere.

A famous singer Claire Lescot, who lives on the outskirts of Paris, is courted by many men, including a maharajah, Djorah de Nopur, and a young Swedish scientist, Einar Norsen. At her lavish parties she enjoys their amorous attentions but she remains emotionally aloof and heartlessly taunts them. When she is told that Norsen has killed himself because of her, she shows no feelings. At her next concert she is booed by an audience outraged at her coldness and she decides to visit the vault in which Norsen's body lies.

Paris 1883. Yvette is the daughter of a courtesan who serves men of wealth and status. She is unaware of how her mother makes money and why they are always in the presence of princes, dukes and barons. Only when Yvette goes away on a holiday she realizes that the Banker Saval is engaging her mother in such activities, she suddenly feels dirty.

In Granada in Spain, Sibilla works as a dancer in a squalid cabaret called El Dorado, struggling to earn enough to care for her sick child. The boy's father Estiria, a prominent citizen, refuses them both help and recognition, fearful of jeopardising the engagement of his adult daughter Iliana to a wealthy nobleman. Iliana however slips away from her engagement party to meet her real lover Hedwick, a Swedish painter. Sibilla, in desperation after a further rejection by Estiria, sees an opportunity to blackmail him by locking the lovers overnight in their meeting-place in the Alhambra.

The ill-fated romance of a brow-beaten seaport slum café waitress and a young man with a possessive mother, who dreams of going out to sea.

A young man who loves his wife wants rid of his troublesome mistress. He dresses up as a wealthy Brazilian and seduces her in a jiffy. He hopes to reach a settlement, that she must sign. In this settlement she will promise to break with her lover. He can then show that he is a faithful husband.

Literary adaptation: A female musician in Asia's tropics escapes from harassers' advances to an island where a timid man has retreated. Later when 3 ruffians search for gold there, he summons the courage to defend her and his turf.

Betty marries rich Allan out of interest and drives a wedge between him and his family.

A New York music-hall actress lives in a miserable loveless marriage. After a violent scene, the man leaves her, taking their baby and leaving it with rich Englishmen. Having become a great singer, she finds her son with the help of a lawyer who loves her.

Wanting to hide in the countryside, a young couple finds all the friends they were fleeing from.

A young couple goes through a plot unscathed in the welcoming salons of a large fashion house.

Correspondence between young lovers nearly ends in disaster through a mistake in postal district. Fortunately the GPO spots the error and all ends well, but with the moral that correspondents should get the address right.

“Catching up with gossip, inspecting new ducklings, clambering over gates, walking across meadows - the life of a postman appears idyllic, but this Devon postie has some startling ideas about improving efficiency... The inimitable Richard Massingham, a doctor turned actor and filmmaker, co-directed this film, and appears in it as the testy Mr Proctor. This film was produced by John Grierson, often hailed as the father of British documentary. It was made for the General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit, one of the most remarkable creative institutions that Britain has produced. It provided a springboard for many of the best-known and critically acclaimed figures in the British Documentary Movement.” - BFI

It starts in the Indian tabas, goes through colonial architecture and arrives in the Brazilian capital. The film follows a script left by Alberto Cavalcanti, after a trip to Brasilia in 1978.

The first months of WWII as experienced by the new young recruits - the 'young Berts' - of the British Army.

The first months of WWII as experienced by the new young recruits - the 'young Berts' - of the British Army.

Paris 1883. Yvette is the daughter of a courtesan who serves men of wealth and status. She is unaware of how her mother makes money and why they are always in the presence of princes, dukes and barons. Only when Yvette goes away on a holiday she realizes that the Banker Saval is engaging her mother in such activities, she suddenly feels dirty.

A nurse falls in love with her patient and secretly marries him. When treating another patient, he falls in love with her and, pretending to be in agony, asks for one last wish: to marry him, and she accepts.

Mathias Pascal, only son of a once-rich family, marries beautiful Romalinda, who has a terrible mother-in-law. She controls her daughter, and soon his home life becomes a nightmare. His only moments of lights are his mother and baby, but both die on the same day. Shocked, he leaves his hometown and goes to Monte Carlo, where he wins a fortune at the casino. Returning home, he reads his own obituary in a paper. They have found a corpse in a creek and connected it with his disappearance. Mathias, noticing that he is now free from all ties to his old life, decides to start a new one.

Based on the true story of Melbourne Johns, an aircraft factory foreman sent to France to prevent the Nazis getting hold of some vital equipment.

Wartime propaganda short in which a professor enlists the help of a dustman to explain the importance of saving paper, bones and metal to help the war effort.

Adaptation for TV of the play by Friedrich Durrenmatt. A very rich old lady arrives in her nearly bankrupt native village. She is ready to come to the rescue but only if her old lover who had once abandoned her pregnant is killed.

The story of a romance between the daughter of the Prince Regent and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg.

Part of BFI collection "If War Should Come."

Part of BFI collection "If War Should Come."

This expository film shows the mood of European society on the eve of the Second World War while promoting the values of international cooperation. Using the Swiss office of the BBC as an example, the film describes the functioning of radio and presents the possibilities opened by mass communications. After the advent of sound film, Cavalcanti promoted experimentation with sound, and in this connection he was interested in the communicational, organizational, and social aspects of radio.

“The rolling hills and wide valleys of the Chilterns are given centre stage in this travelogue aimed at boosting tourism … The Chilterns are a range of rolling hills not far from Greater London; starting at the Thames in Oxfordshire and meandering in a north-easterly direction for nearly 50 miles, before having the good sense to stop short of Luton. This travelogue was produced by the Travel and Industrial Development Association, projecting an image of olde worlde charm to audiences abroad. The fact that this version is silent suggests that it was made for non-theatrical screening.” - BFI Player.

Rainbow Dance is a 1936 British animated film released by the GPO Film Unit. This is Lye's second film. It uses the Gasparcolor process.

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

Londoners prepare for war.

Documentary short by Humphrey Jennings

Shot circa 1926, these two screen tests are made up of various takes for two films by Alberto Cavalcanti and Jacques de Baroncelli.

How long-distance telephone calls are made, from the UK to the USA. We see operators, miles of wires, and the amplification of voice transmitted across the waters. Engineers of the Post Office describe how they are improving the service.

Shot in mid-1939 as S.S. Ionian (also shown as Her Last Trip), Humphrey Jennings’s GPO short follows the Royal Mail steamer on a last peacetime run through the Mediterranean—Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Haifa—under the gaze of the Mediterranean Fleet (HMS Barham, Malaya, Warspite). After the Ionian was sunk by a German mine on 29 November 1939 en route from Crete to Hull, the film was recut and released as Cargoes.