Kidstakes

1949
Sound
45m

Birthday parties and cake feature strongly in this compilation of childhood moments by amateur filmmaker Sid Douglas

A home movie that is part family record, part comedy showcase. This ‘cavalcade of antics’ makes playful use of intertitles and visual devices, accompanied by a selection of familiar pop hits. The film is from a collection of almost 100 home movies made by Sid Douglas between 1949 and 1977, capturing family and friends at home and on holiday. Although he remains unseen, Douglas’s presence is repeatedly felt as his children wander towards the camera. Featuring a colour section when the children visit their Uncle Henry.

Children playing, eating, bathing, the birthdays of Val and Keith Douglas. Henry, Fan and Jill at Edgware. Also the grandmother and Bryan Marcus.

Jewish Britain

Jewish life on screen: a century of insights and hidden histories

This collection uncovers insights, injustices and hidden histories across a century of Jewish life on British screens. It brings together documentary and first-person accounts of Jewish life in the UK, alongside historical dramas and artists’ work exploring the 20th century Jewish experience. The earliest surviving depictions of Jewish characters in British cinema offer a troubling insight into antisemitic representation, yet prejudice was later tackled head-on, with newsreels documenting the anti-fascist movement of the 1930s.

Drop in on joyous family weddings and community gatherings, and see the ways in which UK Jewry supported Jews young and old, and those fleeing persecution, in a selection of fascinating films from the 1900s to the 1980s.

This collection is generously supported by the Neil Kreitman Foundation, Shoresh Charitable Trust, John S Cohen Foundation, and Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation.