A young draughtsman is forced into a shotgun marriage. A landmark in English cinema in terms of social realism, dealing with the lives of ordinary people set against a grim Northern backdrop, it remains keenly observant in detail and rather moving in its very unpretentiousness. find out more...

One of the best dramas from the "New British Cinema" of the 1950s and 60s. A young Salford girl gets pregnant by a black sailor after leaving home and considers her options, while fighting off the affections of Jeff, a heart of gold with a funny face. A grittily realistic portrait of the era that will delight fans of Northern cinema. find out more...

In order to relieve the tension of depressing surroundings and boring people Northern English working class lad Billy spends most of his time in his own fantasy world. However all could change when he meets Liz and discovers that he may be able to escape into a new, bearable reality. A Brit classic that can be classified as 'kitchen sink' - the comedy. find out more...

The term 'free cinema' was coined by critic and filmmaker Lindsay Anderson in early 1956 when he, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti showed a programme of their short films at the National Film Theatre. Although the name was intended only for that screening, it proved so successful that five more programmes were shown under the same banner between 1956 and 1959. find out more...

The term 'free cinema' was coined by critic and filmmaker Lindsay Anderson in early 1956 when he, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti showed a programme of their short films at the National Film Theatre. Although the name was intended only for that screening, it proved so successful that five more programmes were shown under the same banner between 1956 and 1959. find out more...

The term 'free cinema' was coined by critic and filmmaker Lindsay Anderson in early 1956 when he, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti showed a programme of their short films at the National Film Theatre. Although the name was intended only for that screening, it proved so successful that five more programmes were shown under the same banner between 1956 and 1959. find out more...

A truly excellent piece of British filmmaking from the 40s. Housewife Rose Sandigate finds her world thrown into turmoil when an old flame, an escaped prisoner, seeks shelter in the home she has made for herself with her sedate husband George and children. The tension builds between the two as Rose fights her desire to rekindle a much-missed passion. Superbly realised depiction of post war urban England, specifically the East End, and the moral ambiguities that were creeping into society, partic find out more...

A young working-class lad in a grim Northern mining town has no more ambition than to follow his dad down the pit. However he finds an injured young kestrel, which he nurses back to health and trains, an event which opens up a once bleak landscape for him. It's grim up there..... find out more...

The screen version of John Osborne's 1950s drama depicts a rough period in the married life of angry young graduate Jimmy and Allison, a young English couple of disparate backgrounds whose turbulent relationship appears doomed. Richard Burton gives an intense performance as Jimmy, whose love for Allison, played by the ethereally lovely Mary Ure, only occasionally breaks through the anger he takes out on her in merciless verbal assaults, but when the clouds do part, their mutual devotion is beaut find out more...

Very much part of the harsh kitchen sink drama school of British film and play that was around in the 1960s; Loach's film focuses on a young mother whose piggish husband has been sent to jail. With him away she starts up a relationship with his mate, a fellow criminal, but a far more sensitive, caring man. Inevitably he to is nicked and she finds herself drifting in and out of relationships, and work, while trying to care for her young child. "Poor Cow" is not deemed one of Loach's best films an find out more...