Overview
In 1908, amateur naturalist and pioneering filmmaker Percy Smith stunned early cinema goers with his footage of the juggling fly. Hailed as the father of Natural History film, Smith was a hugely influential visual pioneer, inventing many techniques that are still used today. Being both a genius and an eccentric, we follow his life from his earliest films, to the collapse of his house from his mould experiment to his ultimate suicide. We also meet Natural History icon Sir David Attenborough, who was so amazed by Smith’s films in the 1930s that they inspired him to get into natural history.
Director and cast
- John Holdsworth Director
- Charlie Hamilton James as Self - Presenter
- David Attenborough as Self
- Dr Tim Boon as Self - Science Museum, London
- David Cleveland as Self - Film Archivist
- Tim Cockerill as Self - Entomologist
- Bryony Dixon as Self - Curator, Silent Film, BFI
- Jenny Hammerton as Self - Film Archivist
- Michael Harvey as Self - National Media Museum
- Percy Smith Cast
- John Winder Cast
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