The first feature length documentary about war to get a special free screening at Inverness College UHI
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A RARE 1916 documentary about the Battle of the Somme will get a free screening in the lecture theatre at Inverness College UHI later this month.
The feature-length film, hailed as one of the foundation stones of the film collection of the Imperial War Museum, was the first documentary about war.
Shot by Geoffrey Malins and J B McDowell between 25 June and 9 July 1916, it covers the build-up and opening stages of the battle.
It was admitted to the UK Memory of the World Register, which includes artefacts such as Magna Carta, Churchill’s papers and key documents on Shakespeare’s life.
Dr Toby Haggith, senior curator at the Department of Second World War and Mid-Twentieth Century Conflict at London’s Imperial War Museums, will introduce the film and host a question and answer session at the end.
Dr Iain Robertson, a reader in history at Inverness College UHI, said the free screening was a significant event for the facility.
He said: “It is really great for Dr Toby Haggith to come to us. This is the man who was responsible for getting this film onto the United Nations register. It was the first British documentary to appear on this register so to be showing it in Inverness when so many Highlander families have connections to World War 1 and the Somme in particular is a really significant event for us and for the Highlanders’ Museum.”
The free screening will take place in the lecture theatre from 7pm-9pm on May 17. To book a place search for the event on www.eventbrite.co.uk or ring 01463 273000.
