A playful paean to glorious celluloid and the magic of cinema
Starting as a ‘rewind boy’ at his local cinema in east London in the days when film prints had to be reset by hand, Ümit Mesut has since made it his mission to keep celluloid alive. He’s converted his shop Ümit and Son – once a video and general store – into a haven for likeminded cinephiles on the lookout for old and rare prints and projectors, and he tirelessly scours conventions for films to add to his collection. Ümit’s love for film is contagious and gets at something fundamental about collecting – those who dedicate themselves to preserving what the rest of us might overlook are keeping our history and memories alive.
Director: Liam Saint-Pierre
videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes
videoEngineering
How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time
10 minutes
videoFilm and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes
videoEnvironmental history
In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests
13 minutes
videoArchitecture
A 3D rendering of the Colosseum captures its architectural genius and symbolic power
17 minutes
videoMaking
On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way
6 minutes
videoBiology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
videoHistory of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
6 minutes
videoFood and drink
The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner
14 minutes