Edwardian Insects on Film

In 1908, amateur naturalist and pioneering filmmaker Percy Smith stunned early cinema goers with his footage of the juggling fly. Hailed as the father of Natural History film, Smith was a hugely influential visual pioneer, inventing many techniques that are still used today. Being both a genius and an eccentric, we follow his life from his earliest films, to the collapse of his house from his mould experiment to his ultimate suicide. We also meet Natural History icon Sir David Attenborough, who was so amazed by Smith’s films in the 1930s that they inspired him to get into natural history.

Cast

Charlie Hamilton James Self - Presenter David Attenborough Self

Dr Tim Boon Self - Science Museum, London

David Cleveland Self - Film Archivist Tim Cockerill Self - Entomologist Bryony Dixon Self - Curator, Silent Film, BFI Jenny Hammerton Self - Film Archivist Michael Harvey Self - National Media Museum

Percy Smith Self - archive footage

John Winder Self - Scientist & Collector

Metadata from the source database.