
"The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon" (2005)
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: each 60 min (3 episodes)
Country: UK
Language: English
Color: Black and White / Color
imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445886/
In the early 1990s, in the basement of a shop in Blackburn, north England, 800 rolls of nitrate film were found in sealed barrels. These rolls contained early Edwardian films of real people across the North of England, filmed and stored by the Mitchell & Kenyon company. This three part series contains excerpts from these extraordinary films, featuring interviews with ancestors of those pictured, recreations of the life and times of the film-makers, and visits many of the original locations.
Similar to the "actualities" made by the Lumiere brothers, these films were commissioned from the Mitchell & Kenyon company between 1900 and 1913 by touring showmen in the days before purpose-built cinemas. Shot mostly in the North of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, they were advertised as "local films for local people" and screened at town halls, village fetes and local fairs. Providing an unparalleled visual record of Edwardian Britain, the films are a moving testament to the lives of ordinary people at work and play. Electric Edwardians is a special program of highlights from the 28 hours of footage discovered in metal churns in the basement of a photographer's shop in Blackburn, England.
(3 parts each 60 min)