The Camera is Ours: Britain's Women Documentary Makers includes five films from key pioneers of the documentary form:
‘Beside the Seaside’ (Marion Grierson, 1935, 23m) is lyrical, inventive, and gives us all the pleasures of Britain’s coast.
‘They Also Serve’ (Ruby Grierson, 1940, 9m) is a dramatized documentary, and a hymn to the dedication of “the Housewives of Britain” during wartime.
‘Birth-day’ (Brigid ‘Budge’ Cooper, 1945, 22m) explores the mysteries of maternity – this is the real ‘Call the Midwife’!
‘Homes for the People’ (Kay Mander, 1945, 23m) uses the then-radical technique of allowing working-class women to describe their own lives.
‘Something Nice to Eat’ (Sara Erulkar, 1967, 21m) – the psychedelic spirit of the 1960s is ushered in by Sarah Erulkar’s film featuring Jean Shrimpton.