A memorable public information film for American Cancer Society; it shows a fetus smoking a cigarette, to warn expectant mothers against smoking while pregnant.
With its simple and iconic imagery this was public information film at its most sensational: expensive special effects and high-concept production design brought public information filmmaking into the realm of state-of-the-art corporate advertising. The film was the result of a £5 million cinema and television campaign aimed at combating the growing spread of HIV and AIDS. With restrictions around the overt promotion of condom use on television and a growing chorus of moral campaigners promulgating their own agenda, the straightforward and doom-laded approach was probably the only viable option for campaign mastermind Sammy Harari. But the result was a hard-hitting and memorable campaign which undoubtedly fulfilled its brief of pervading public consciousness. There are two versions; the one shown in cinemas did not feature John Hurt's famous voiceover.
Featuring the voiceover of Sir Anthony Hopkins, this public information film from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society starts out rather innocently with beautiful hand-painted animation. It describes how once a year a large group of pilot whales swim to a small group of islands known as the Faroe Islands.
John Hurt narrates this highly charged and doom-laden public information film from the 1987 AIDS awareness campaign. A cliff-face explodes in slow motion; an industrial drill bores into a huge block of rock; the word 'AIDS' is chiselled into the polished surface of a granite headstone and a "Don't Die of Ignorance" leaflet drops onto the surface along with an elegiac bouquet of white lilies. The solemnity of the accompanying voice-over quells any vestiges of ambiguity.
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.
Environmental PSA by Bill Plympton.
A haunting fire prevention film about keeping matches out of the hands of children.
A doctor talks about the number of injuries and deaths resulting from automobile accidents.
Poetic tribute to Mrs Turner's vegetable growing prowess, plus the delights of "wartime steaks".
No man is an island, but Charley represents his nation in this economical cartoon tale of Britain’s economics.
This informative herring aid from WWII makes no bones about the need to make the most of every fish.
Government information film on how to get maximum wear from a man's suit, narrated by one such suit in the form of an autobiography.
The effortlessly comic abandons the stress of his city job to work on a farm.
Power cuts, housing shortages and exorbitant rents – Aberdeen man goes head to head with his greedy landlady.
Sid James learns of the joys of owning a budgerigar.
A dancing radio stops partying to transmit an announcement on fuel conservation in this WWII cartoon short.
Ernie tells Eric to ‘be wise’ and not drive home after their Christmas party.
The sequel to Smoker of the Future, in which he has a child who will take after his father.
A former Doctor Who returns to Earth to deliver a road safety message.
Educational film for a campaign against wife battering in 1985 in The Netherlands.