This film is part of Free

Title of error

See Help

Mr Tomas

Mysterious home movie scrapbook of industry and agriculture around Gloucestershire.

Amateur film 1937 18 mins Silent

Overview

A bit of a mystery surrounds this compendium of home movie scenes shot around Gloucestershire: we've no record of who filmed it or why - and who's Mr Tomas? The scrapbook of shots includes many handsome views: there's Gloucester cathedral, Sharpness from the air, and workers at the Lister factory in Dursley. Mixed in is a smattering of rugby, agriculture, burial mounds and historic ruins. Curious!

All the shots in this film were taken with a 35mm (professional standard) film camera - which deepens the mystery. Any home movie-maker choosing to use such high-grade gear in the late-1930s would have been odd, as by then 'small gauge' (8mm, 9.5mm or 16mm) film cameras were much more affordably available.

Genres

Amateur film

Country

United Kingdom

Location

GloucesterDursleySharpnessHetty Pegler's TumpGreat Witcombe

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Subjects

Watch for free

Ice Cream Man Ice Cream Man

News 1974 5 mins Location: Gloucester

Gloucester's only tricycle ice cream seller runs rings around Chris Tarrant.

Watch for free

New Perspectives: La Haine New Perspectives: La Haine

Short documentary 2025 4 mins

Charlie Hammersley, a student from Northumbria University, explains how Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film holds up a mirror to society.

Watch for free

Dreamers Q&A Dreamers Q&A

Inside Film 2025 30 mins

The film-makers behind a haunting tale of love and community within a UK immigration detention centre visited the BFI Southbank to discuss their film.