Watch FOR FREE seven outstanding documentaries from British Documentary School and Free Cinema Movement, including films by John Grierson, Robert Flaherty or Karel Reisz.

Films for the event

Industrial Britain

Industrial Britain (Orig.) / 1931 / United Kingdom / 22 min

Industrial Britain represents a watershed in the development of the British documentary movement, the moment when artistic achievement was first blended meaningfully with social intent.

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Momma Don't Allow

Momma Don't Allow (Orig.) / 1956 / United Kingdom / 22 min

The film captures the emerging 'youth culture' contrasting the relaxed, confident working-class 'teddy boys' and their girlfriends with the more awkward 'toffs', whose arrival threatens to change the mood of the evening.

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We Are the Lambeth Boys

We Are the Lambeth Boys (Orig.) / 1959 / United Kingdom / 49 min

The film once again took a sympathetic approach to an aspect of working-class life largely neglected by both the documentary tradition and commercial cinema.

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Coal Face

Coal Face (Orig.) / 1935 / United Kingdom / 12 min

Coal Face was an important film both for its innovative aesthetic style and for its ability to express critical social comment (noting, for example, the accident rates in the mines) in a film which was, in effect, made for a government department and sponsored by a commercial industry.

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Drifters

Drifters (Orig.) / 1929 / United Kingdom / 60 min

The story of the North Sea herring fisheries, filmed at Derwick, in the Shetlands, Lowestoft and Yarmouth and in the North Sea.

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Fires Were Started

Fires Were Started (Orig.) / 1943 / United Kingdom / 63 min

One day and night with the National Fire Service in London during the Fire Blitz of Winter/Spring 1940/41.

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Night Mail

Night Mail (Orig.) / 1936 / United Kingdom / 24 min

The nightly run of the postal special train from London to Glasgow.

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News

Single Shot Indonesia

For more than 10 years, Dutch director Leonard Retel Helmrich has been returning to the homeland of his parents to observe and record the transformation of Indonesia in the turbulent years of economic and cultural globalization. The Dafilms portal presents all of the three parts of his famous documentary trilogy, including the latest film Position among the Stars. On the backdrop of the tension in Indonesian society, Helmrich’s camera follows the Sjamsuddin family living their daily lives of work and worries, mutual love and hatred. In the week from May 21, you can watch the first two parts of the trilogy; The Eye of the Day and Shape of the Moon; for free.

Eastern Promises

This week the Dafilms portal presents a considerable portion of European “exoticism”. Take a trip through the unique landscape of the Balkans with three remarkable documentaries. Although the protagonists of The Shutka Book of Records, The Mosquito Problem and Bahtalo! are rather poor, do not expect a heavy social drama. One can only live merrily without money! From May 14, you can watch the three films for free for a whole week.

True Stories from Russia

Watch or download films about true life in Russia: Kommunalka (free on May 7 and May 8!), Durakovo – the Village of Fools and Mr. Triska's Epoch Making Trip to Russia.