More than 150 hours of rarely seen film footage of life in Norfolk and across the region has been made available free online, thanks to the completion of a million pound project. Norwich City Council is delighted to help promote and support the East Anglian Film Archive project bringing hours of fascinating footage life and making the history of East Anglia so accessible.
For the last two years, archivists at the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) East Anglian Film Archive (EAFA) have been cataloguing and digitising hundreds of hours of historic movie footage.
The project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, University of East Anglia and Screen Heritage UK, will also open up hundreds of hours of footage to academic research and commercial collaboration.
Film gems from the county include an interview with actress Joyce Grenfell in King’s Lynn in 1961, scenes from Cromer and Caister in the 1930s, a visit by George Formby in 1949, the K Shoe factory workers protest of 1976, and the Singing Postman.
Professor John Charmley, Associate Dean of Enterprise and Engagement, described the importance of the project:
"For the first time people will have direct access to moving images of their own heritage. It connects people directly to their history and brings it alive.
"It has been 70 years since anyone has been able to view some of these films, making this an important moment in terms of the social history of our region.
"Some of the content is extremely important in academic research terms. It can tell us about our past in ways in which written records simply cannot."
The project will enable the archive to collaborate on a number of new research projects and will form a key part of the university’s enterprise and engagement outreach activities.
Richard Taylor, Director of EAFA, said the website, while incredibly important and exciting, was just the tip of the iceberg.
"What the project has done is extremely important for the future of the archive. We now understand the nature of the collection.
"The archive was established as a repository of the region’s heritage, now we’re unlocking it by making much of it available online with more to come."
A series of partnerships have been developed with venues across the region, including Fusion at The Forum in Norwich, which will house special Mobile Film Show Units and provide special film shows.
Stuart Hobley, Development Manager for the Heritage Lottery Fund said:
"The collections at EAFA are an astonishing record of our local heritage; personal moments captured forever on film - a legacy that we all enjoy today.
"This regional film archive was one of the first in the country, established in the 70s, and I'm delighted that with Lottery players' money and University support, these rare and remarkable films will continue to play such an important role in our 'reel' life."
The new site will contain footage from every decade of the 20th century and will also be fully browsable at
www.eafa.org.uk.