Battle of the Somme film that changed cinematic history forever to be shown to mark 100th anniversary

This year, Imperial War Museums and the Powerstock team responsible for A Dorset Parish Remembers, are working together to show the UNESCO listed film The Battle of the Somme, to audiences to mark the 100th anniversary.

It was shot and screened in 1916 and seen by around 20 million people, almost half the population of Britain at the time - making it one of the most popular films in British Cinema history. The film marked a turning point in film making, being the first feature length documentary about a war.

It changed the way cinema and film were perceived. Before the Battle of the Somme film, cinema-going was not perceived as respectable by the upper classes and indeed by many of the officers serving in the British Army. The film helped to raise the status of film from a trashy form of mass-entertainment to a more serious and poignant form of communication.

Many hoped to see their loved ones captured on film. - more than half of whom had no battle experience.

The first day of the battle, on 1 July 1916, was the bloodiest in the history of the British Army, with 57,740 casualties, including 19,240 dead.

The film, to be shown at 7.30pm on July 1, is free but audience members will need tickets available from the Marquis of Lorne in Nettlecombe and The Three Horseshoes in Powerstock.

The producers of the film had expected that the offensive on the Somme would be a great success, so the film was to record the victory and demonstrate the effectiveness of the British Army. It was hoped that the example of the brave soldiers would rally civilian support for the war effort, and in particular the people working in munitions, reflected in the film by a focus on the importance of good quality and plentiful shells of all sizes and guns.

Kitchener had banned all photography and film from taking place until late 1915. The War Office agreed to the presence of cameramen at the front before the ‘Battle of the Somme’ following the lobbying of the British Topical Committee for War Films and pressure from the film industry who were keen to respond to the public appetite for real footage from the front.

British soldiers are portrayed as well-fed, well-motivated, well-clothed and well-equipped. There is an emphasis on the care and medical assistance that the soldiers received, and indeed the chivalry shown to enemy prisoners.

It would also have been hoped that the film would help with recruiting in Empire countries where men volunteered - particularly in Ireland, where conscription had not been introduced because of the Easter Uprising.

It would have been to encourage British men to respond to their call-up papers - 93,000 men failed to do so. The film was shot by two cameramen, Geoffrey Malins and J B McDowell. Malins was attached to the 29th division and McDowell to the 7th division.

Filming took place between 25 June and 9 July 1916..

The film stands out for its close-up footage and the cameramen would have been as much at risk as the soldiers.

Anticipating the desire of the audience to spot their loved ones, the cameramen captured as many faces as possible, often encouraging the men to turn and acknowledge the camera.

British soldiers in turn can sometimes be seen urging German prisoners of war to make sure they are ‘in picture’. The editors also named the regiments that were featured to help with identification.

An estimated 13 per cent of the film depicts images of wounded or dead soldiers including some very distressing images of communal graves filled with corpses. Such depiction of British dead soldiers is unique to this film in the history of British non-fiction cinema.

Although popular, the film was also highly controversial and many thought the scenes of the dead were disrespectful and voyeuristic. There was debate in the newspapers and at least one cinema manager refused to show it. Some commentators pointed out that the film was as effective as anti-war propaganda as at meeting its intended purpose.