Cert
Age group7–16
Duration126 mins
Hugo(2011)
Set in 1931 Paris, an orphan living within the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery about his father.
Acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese surprised everyone in 2011 by directing a family film for the first time in his career. Adapted from a children’s book, this magical adventure – predominantly set in a Paris train station – is steeped in cinema history, particularly its birth, and admires the work of early trailblazers including George Méliès.
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Cert
Age groupAll ages
Duration98 mins
Singin' in the Rain(1952)
Widely considered the best musical ever made, this tribute to Hollywood is about an actress who can't sing trying to move into sound films.
As cinema evolved through the ages, the medium itself had to change. Singin’ in the Rain, as well as being a superb musical in its own right, also brilliantly encapsulates what Hollywood looked like in the late 1920s. With the landscape moving from silent pictures to ‘talkies’ via the introduction of sound, one star struggles to make it in this brave new world.
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Cert
Age group7–14
Duration354 mins
Walt Disney Treasures - Silly Symphonies - Disc 1(1929)
The evolution of animation is beautifully demonstrated in this exceptionally innovative series of Walt Disney cartoons
Disney have been at the forefront of cinema through most of its lifespan, and these early musical shorts – released between 1929 and 1939 – tested the boundaries with new styles, techniques and technology. These films not only show a development in animation across the decade, but also reflecting societal views of the time, acting as important historical documents.
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Cert
Age group7+
Duration120 mins
Saving Mr. Banks(2013)
Author P. L. Travers reflects on her childhood when meeting with filmmaker Walt Disney during production on the adaptation of her novel, Mary Poppins.
Contrasting history and modernity, Saving. Mr Banks, released in 2013 but set in the early 1960s and comprising of further flashbacks, chronicles the production process of Disney’s much-loved Mary Poppins. This film focuses on the tumultuous relationship between author P. L. Travers and Walt Disney as they exhibit creative differences whilst producing the family musical.
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Cert
Age group7–14
Duration87 mins
Earth to Echo(2014)
Three best friends track down an alien with their mobile phones in this exciting sci-fi adventure.
A more modern take can be found within Earth to Echo, a film which riffs heavily on ET and feels like Super 8 for younger audiences. The kids use mobile phone technology throughout, itself a powerful filmmaking tool in the current climate, as well as recording their adventures in 1980s style on a handheld video camera, with nods to the contemporary found-footage genre.
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