Edwardian Insects on Film

In 1908, amateur naturalist and pioneering filmmaker Percy Smith filmed a household fly juggling a series of objects many times its own size. The Acrobatic Fly stunned early cinema goers and its strange captivating magic - along with accusations of cruelty, fakery and sorcery - became front page news across the world. In this one-hour documentary made by Mentorn Media, presented by Charlie Hamilton-James and directed by John Holdsworth, the story of one of the great unsung heroes of Natural History filmmaking is uncovered. Smith helped to invent the Natural History film as we know it today and, with the help of the British Film Institute and The National Media Museum, Charlie explores the life and work of this forefather of form. Searching out classic Smith archive including The Birth Of A Flower and World In A Wine Glass, Charlie meets Natural History icon Sir David Attenborough, who saw Smith’s films in the 1930s and was knocked out and inspired by them. Finally, Charlie puts his digital camera aside and picks up a 100-year-old hand-cranked camera in an attempt to recreate the filmic experiments that led to the Smith classic The Acrobatic Fly. But will the results be as staggering and as beautiful as they were in 1908?