COI

Britain and Turkey had not always enjoyed the ‘special’ friendship referred to in the commentary. Their armies were on opposing sides in the First World War and there had been disagreementt over the future of Cyprus in the run up to the settlement of 1960. In the 1960s relations improved and this reciprocal tour (the President of Turkey, Cevdet Sunay, had paid a state visit to the United Kingdom in November 1967) was regarded as a milestone in the bilateral alliance between the two countries. The camera affords the viewer a prime vantage point by which to marvel at the splendour of the pageantry and contemplate every nuance of gesture and sartorial detail. As we linger on the bejewelled Queen waiting patiently at the British Embassy in Ankara to greet her guests we wonder what it might be like to be in her shoes.

This film tells the story of Ronald, an intelligent boy who wants to become an architect or surveyor. His cousins Paul and Jane cannot believe that Ronald has any awareness of building sites. In Paul's imagination, he and his sister set Ronald in a number of typical sites, to see if he can survive the hazards that kill and maim many children each year. Ronald eventually learns the hard way that he did not know as much about building sites as he thought.

A haunting fire prevention film about keeping matches out of the hands of children.

Impressions of contemporary British arts and fashion. Summary of art through the ages taking in every thing from Mary Quant to the Marat/Sade production. Made for the Montreal "Expo '67" exhibition.

On an English farm, six reckless children play at being a fierce band of Apache warriors, unaware of the many dangers to which they are exposed. (Public information short film produced on behalf of the British Government to warn children living in rural areas about the risks of playing near farm machinery.)

A former Doctor Who returns to Earth to deliver a road safety message.

Michael Palin guides us on suicide in this humorous public information film on motorway safety.

In the middle of a six-week tour of the Indian sub-continent between January and March 1961, the Queen and Prince Philip visited Pakistan and East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Warning children not to play near 'dark and lonely' water, a horror film style look and voice-over is used in this film to highlight the dangers.

A short information film produced to get Britain ready for decimalisation.

An African tribe in the Eastern Nigerian village of Umana work to build a maternity hospital, with the aid of government officials, and against the opposition of some tribal members.

The joys of 1960s modern education - as seen at a not-exactly-typical local comp.

The Green Cross Man helps a young boy cross the road safely.

Ernie tells Eric to ‘be wise’ and not drive home after their Christmas party.

This film is a compilation of footage shot by Associated British Pathe, which covered royal events for its newsreels, and the company would have been ideally placed to use their footage to make short films for the COI. The varied life of the Queen depicted in the film encompasses duties such as making the first telephone trunk call in 1958, from Bristol.

Part of BFI collection "Portrait of a People."

Colin Welland presents this public information film about the hazards of nighttime driving.

Perhaps the characters in this film are stupid or even laughable. Before YOU laugh at them remember that people behaving like them often cause accidents on the roads - and country roads are no exception.

The World Is Rich is a 1947 British documentary film directed by Paul Rotha about food shortages after World War II, outlining steps underway to deal with the problems. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The President had been due to visit twice before, but on both occasions the trip had to be cancelled. The first time was in 1963, the same year as the Commonwealth visit by the President of India. The second cancellation occurred in 1965 when a longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan over the sovereignty of Kashmir boiled over into full-scale war in September of that year. However, as one might expect from a film made for international diplomacy purposes no reference is made to ongoing political problems either at home or abroad. Like the Indian presidential visit of 1963, the film was for screening to domestic audiences (both in the UK and in Pakistan) whose main interest would be in the pomp and ceremony of the visit, and the reception and status afforded to the President by the Queen and royal family.