Film highlights First World War memories
- Empica
- Jul 20, 2017
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 24
The Brief
To create a documentary film to mark 100 years of the First World War and show the impact that the conflict still; has today on families.
What we did
Empica videographer Lisa Marley filmed and edited “Not Forgotten”, which follows the stories of the relatives of three men who were killed in the First World War as they uncover the past with the help of military historian Jeremy Banning.
Bristol-based historian and author Clive Burlton, a non-executive director of Empica, has been organising tours of the battlefields in France and Belgium during the anniversary years. Coaches are provided by the hire section of Empica long-term client Bakers Dolphin.
Clive and military historian Jeremy Banning, who specialises in researching the First World War find out about those travelling and their family stories. Jeremy has
Jeremy Banning has acted as principal researcher for television and radio documentaries, including the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? ; BBC Wales series Coming Home; various Time Team Specials, BBC Four’s The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars and he acted as Historical Consultant for BBC Two’s War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme (2014) and the three-part series ‘The Somme 1916 – From Both Sides of the Wire’ (2016).
Lisa and Clive chose three of the families and visited them in their homes before the trip to the battlefields to get the personal stories of their relatives who served in the First World War.
Most of the documentary was then made in Belgium and France during a weekend tour of the battlefields with Empica MD Martin Powell and videographer Lisa Marley constantly on the lookout for exciting footage and filming events as they happened.
As the weekend unfolded the relatives discover the graves of their relatives, learned about their role in the war and found the places where they were killed in battle.
The documentary
The 30-minute documentary is now complete (You can watch it below) after being produced and edited entirely at Empica’s offices in our edit suite and is set to be shown as part of Bristol’s continuing commemoration of 100 years since the 1914-18 war.
A special premiere was held in front of a specially-invited audience at the Everyman Cinema in Whiteladies Road, Bristol.
Among those watching were those who took part in the battlefield; senior management of Bakers Dolphin; clients of Empica and everyone who was involved in the project.
Martin Powell, Managing Director of Empica, said: “Because of the way people consume their news and information on telephones, tablets and computer screens story-telling through film and video has become increasingly important.
“We invested in in-house video production so that we can produce short films for our clients, but this is the first time we have produced a full-length documentary.”
Following the success of the film Empica was commissioned to produce a video for Jeremy Banning, showcasing his work, also using footage from the weekend tour.
