Curator's choice: Britain at War

With a wealth of experience that only decades at IWM can bring, Jane Fish, Senior Curator – Film, is your go-to-person to identify hidden gems in the archive.  As well as assisting with research, dealing with commercial enquiries and cataloguing, Jane has a special interest in the wealth of amateur film in our collection.

An easy choice for me of an exceptional film in the IWM collection is amateur camerawoman Rosie Newman's  colour film of the British home front during the Second World War. 

Britain at War is a remarkable 99 minute film, shot on vibrant Kodachrome, containing a wealth of sequences including the devastation caused by the Blitz on London, Spitfires at RAF Digby, casualties returning from D-Day, scenes on board destroyer HMS Berkeley as well as rare scenes of lumberjacks from British Honduras at work in the forest in Scotland.

Amateur films: a unique viewpoint

Rosie Newman's film is a brilliant example of the value of amateur films to the historian and to the filmmaker - offering unique, intimate and often unusual images which help us understand the past. 

This film is one of many amateur films in our collection which can be researched using IWM Film.

Collection highlight: BRITAIN AT WAR: AMATEUR FILM BY ROSIE NEWMAN