Breakers
- 1896
Breakers
A handful of passers-by watch waves breaking gently onto a shore
This was one of a number of films made to exploit the filmic possibilities of flowing water in the wake of the popular appeal of Rough Sea at Dover (1895). It's believed to have been shot in 1896, possibly in Spain or Portugal, by Henry William Short, a cinematographer-inventor whose films were distributed by the more celebrated pioneer RW Paul.
A friend of both Paul and his former colleague Birt Acres, Short is credited by film historian John Barnes as a vital catalyst in the development of the cinema, particularly for introducing like-minded people to each other (including Acres and Paul).
Victorian Mysteries
A selection of some of the most enigmatic of early British films. Can you help us unlock their secrets?
We can learn a lot about early films from producers' and exhibitors' catalogues, in contemporary accounts in newspapers or the trade press, or by examining the original celluloid film. But try as we might, archivists and historians sometimes draw a blank. Where and when was this film shot, and who by? Is it British? French? American? Egyptian?
We've collected here some of the earliest films in the BFI's collections, which we wish we knew more about. So grab your deerstalker and your magnifying glass, and put your observational skills to the test on this enigmatic assortment. Can you recognise a building, a landscape, a military uniform?
12 videos in this collection
Breakers
Indian Scenes
Unidentified Chinese Men (c.1900)
Soldier Shooting
Panorama of the Ophir before Leaving Sydney Harbour
Wedding Ceremony in a Church
Crude Set Comedy
Woman and a Pram Hood
Street Scene in unidentified European city
Unidentified Factory Gate (c.1900)
Unidentified Factory Gate Exit in Lancashire (c.1900)
