Licensing projects 2025

Footage, audio and images licensed from the IWM collections has appeared in many notable projects this year, including those commemorating 80 years since the end of the Second World War and the 85th anniversary of the Blitz bombing raids. Here are a few highlights.

Television / Streaming

Britian and the Blitz. Produced by 72 Films. Netflix. 

The immersive documentary features first-hand accounts and testimonies from Blitz survivors as well as colourised archival footage from IWM's collections. This was a major project for IWM involving new digitisation and curatorial support to uncover rarely seen original material in the archive. 

 VJ Day 80: We Were There. BBC. 

Britain Under The Nazis: The Forgotten Occupation. Produced by Minnow Films. Channel 4.

Empire with David Olusoga. Series 1. Episode 3. Co-produced by Voltage TV and Hillgate Films. BBC.

 

Recording Evil. Tozeret Haaretz Productions. Commissioned by Israel’s Public Broadcaster, KAN 11.

The Last Musician of Auschwitz. Produced by Two Rivers Media Ltd. BBC Two.

Belsen: What They Found. Produced by Lightbox in association with IWM and Neal Street. BBC.

Archive footage and first-hand testimonies tell the story of two cameramen accompanying troops liberating Bergen-Belsen.

War Paint: Women At War. Produced by Foxtrot Films. Sky Arts.  

Artists featured include Dame Laura Knight. A Balloon Site, Coventry, 1943 was used in the trailer for the documentary film.

Commemorative Products

Royal Mail. Valour and Victory Stamp Set

5 images were licensed from IWM including portraits of RAF pilot Mahinder Singh Pujji (left) who received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Lilian Bader (right), one of the first Black women to serve in the RAF. 

All Jigsaws

A commemorative jigsaw puzzle, marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day using IWM archive images.

Publishing

               

Harper Collins. Image: IWM (B 5090)                                                                      Penguin. Image: IWM (NA 13810)

                 

Bloomsbury. Image: IWM (CH 8945)                                                                       Bloomsbury. Image: IWM (D 18234)

Exhibition

Surrender 45. Exhibition at the Museum Lüneburg (3 May 2025 – 30 December 2025)

The Museum Lüneburg in Germany utilised IWM's multimedia collections to mark the 80th anniversary of the Nazi surrender, including film, photos, documents and sound. Items featured include a reproduction of the official surrender document.  Read more in our case study. 

VE Day 80

Archive In Action: VE Day. IWM supported the UK Government’s commemorations for VE Day by providing curatorial expertise and archive material. 

The large screen at Piccadilly Circus was taken over on 8 May with a filmed tribute featuring archive footage of Churchill from a Canadian Army Newsreel. It was created by M+C Saatchi Group UK and Ocean Outdoor, working with DCMS and The Together Coalition.

Find Out More

Thanks to all our licensing customers for their continued support. 

For further information regarding licensing IWM's collections please contact the Image & Film Licensing team.

Request Brand Licensing for expert guidance in helping to translate IWM's collections into successful product ranges.