14-18 NOW and Imperial War Museums, in partnership with the BBC, have commissioned a new film from acclaimed director and filmmaker Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit trilogy) to tell the story of the First World War.
Created exclusively using original footage from the IWM’s film archives, each frame has been masterfully restored to the condition it would have been seen by its original Wartime audience over a century ago. The film features audio sourced from the BBC Archives to allow modern audiences to hear people from the time talking about The Great War in their own voice and in their own words. The result is a unique and thought-provoking film that has discovered stories and perspectives on the war never-before presented to the public, brought to life by Peter Jackson’s acclaimed cinematic skills.
The film will be shown as part of the 2018 BFI London Film Festival, with a UK broadcast premiere on BBC One for Armistice 2018.
A ‘making-of’ documentary will accompany the BBC One screening, with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with Peter Jackson and an in-depth look at the creative and technical process behind the work.
The film is commissioned by 14-18 NOW and Imperial War Museums in association with the BBC and Executive Produced by House Productions.
Jackson is a bonafide WWI aficionado, having previously curated a Great War museum exhibition in New Zealand, as well as directing the 2008 short narrative film Crossing the Line about two young soldiers preparing for battle in WWI. You can see a trailer for that film below…
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
