City's film archive goes online

Rare film footage of Liverpool during the early 1900s is being made available online.


The films show everyday life in
different parts of Liverpool

It is believed the city becomes the first to have its own archive section on a new website called Screenonline.

The resource includes contemporary as well as historical film footage and some TV programmes.

The site was developed by the British Film Institute to coincide with the city's year-long celebration as European Capital of Culture.

Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI, said: "Archive film has such potency in its ability to teach us about ourselves, to show us who we are and where we have come from.

"Liverpool is among the most filmed cities in the UK and you only have to look at the films and television programmes on Liverpool: A City on Screen to see why.

"This incredible material presents a penetrating observation of everyday life as seen by different generations over the past 100 years and it reveals much about how this great city has become what it is today."



All the footage on Liverpool has been sourced from the BFI National Archive and the North West Film Archive, as well as from individual collectors and private donors.

Highlights of the collection include City Symphony - A Day in Liverpool, a film specially commissioned in 1929 to tell the story of a typical working day in the city.

A number of titles from the recently rediscovered Mitchell and Kenyon collection of films from the early 1900s including the docks and a football match are also among the films.

Source: BBC NEWS | Merseyside