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Framing the Past

Still taken from 'A Daring Daylight Robbery' - the Sheffield Photo Company 1903

The series of 'Framing the Past' archive film screenings was a new opportunity for the Yorkshire Film Archive to work with cinema venues in Bradford, Sheffield and York and present audiences with a unique glimpse of our region's moving image history.

The project was funded through Screen Yorkshire and each programme in the series focussed on a specific theme, from early Yorkshire Pioneer Film Companies, to Newsreels, Regional Television, Home Movies, Yorkshire in Wartime and the three cities of Bradford, Sheffield and York on Film.

Early Pioneers

With films dating from 1888, the programme followed the development of film production and exhibition from before the days of cinema up to the coming of sound in the late 1920's. Films included examples from Bamforths and Company of Holmfirth and the Sheffield Photo Company, who rose to success with their series of 'chase' films including 'A Daring Daylight Robbery'.

Hiltons' Ice-Cream stand.  Bradford Market, 1951

Newsreels

A chronological history of British Newsreels in the last century, documenting the rise of the specialist news companies whose broadcasts have shaped our understanding of social history. The programme explored the relationship between news values and the development of film making technology, using national news and stories from Yorkshire to show a full range of examples that would have been seen by cinema audiences throughout the decades.

Regional Television

Using material from a recent YFA project researching the history of regional television, this programme was an opportunity for audiences to look back on fifty years of broadcasting in the region – from news, sports and documentaries to local interest programmes and network dramas.

Home Movies

This programme was able to explore the history, technology and very different styles of home movie, or amateur, film making. The birth of home movie making began in earnest the 1920's, with the advent of 16mm camera and projectors, and since then these films have become a rich source of social, historical and cultural record for future generations.

A family in Bradford showing their support for the VE Day celebrations

Yorkshire in Wartime

A programme of films showing the impact of World War 2 in the region, with films documenting the Local Defence Volunteers ( later to become the Home Guard ), munitions factories, the bomb damage to our major industrial centres, evacuees, and the jubilant celebrations of VE Day on 6th May 1945.