Amateur film maker Rosie Newman using her Cine Kodak Model K 16mm film camera. HU 65393

Winner – Focal International Awards, ‘Best Use of Footage in a Home Entertainment Release’, 2012

Britain at War, filmmaker Rosie Newman’s film of Britain during the Second World War, is one of the most important amateur films in our collection, notable for its content and the fact that it was shot, almost entirely, in colour. This film has interested and intrigued many researchers.  Who was Rosie Newman? How did she manage to film in places considered as ‘off-limits’ to amateur filmmakers? How and where did she show her films?  In order to answer such questions I did some research and discovered a most remarkable filmmaker.

Miss Rosie Newman bought her first 16mm camera in 1928, indulging in the latest amusing hobby of the time. Over the next decade, however, this hobby became a serious pursuit. She filmed all her foreign travels and, encouraged by friends, began showing these films publicly as entertainment and to raise funds for charity.  In recognition of her achievements, in particular for her films of India, she was elected fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.