27 June 2006

Imperial War Museum Q70167

One of the staged shots of British troops attacking on the Somme. It is thought to have been filmed and photographed at a trench mortar school behind the lines.

The Battle of the Somme (UK, 1916)

To commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the opening of the Somme offensive on 1 July 1916 the NZ Film Archive presents two screenings of the classic film The Battle of the Somme (UK, 1916) with live piano accompaniment.

Production: British Topical Committee for War Films, on behalf of the War Office
Producer: William F Jury
Cameramen: Geoffrey H Malins and J B McDowell
Editors: Charles A Urban and Geoffrey H Malins

Beta-SP (originally 35mm), B&W, silent, 80 minutes.

Piano accompaniment by Nicholas Giles-Palmer.

The screenings of Battle of the Somme have been made possible by the generous assistance of the Film & Video Archive, Imperial War Museum, London.

Presented in association with the Friends of the Film Archive and with the support of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association.

The Battle of the Somme was first shown to an invited audience in London on 10 August 1916, barely six-weeks after the opening of the offensive on 1 July. It was then put into general release in London on 21 August and in the rest of the country on 28 August the same year. It was received with considerable popular acclaim, and seen by a very large audience. The film achieved over 2000 bookings by October and at one point was being simultaneously screened in 30 London cinemas.

Many of its scenes have become part of the classic imagery of the First World War, are are still to be seen on television screens today whenever a programme needs to recall that conflict.

Where: NZ Community Trust Mediatheatre,NZ Film Archive,
cnr Taranaki & Ghuznee Streets, Wellington

When: Friday, 30 June at 7.00pm and Saturday, 1 July at 7.00pm

Tickets: $8 Public / $6 Concession

For further information: www.filmarchive.org.nz

Related link

The Battle of the Somme Exhibition (Imperial War Museum)
www.iwm.org.uk

In Brief
What: The Battle of the Somme film
Where: NZ Film Archive, cnr Taranaki & Ghuznee Streets, Wellington.
When: 30 June and 1 July 2006 at 7.00pm
Link: www.filmarchive.org.nz