Most people can quickly summon up images of fans screaming for the Beatles in the 1960s or the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, even as relatively few were witness to those events. These and other iconic seconds of footage shape our shared understanding of 20th-century history. However, as the British filmmaker Richard Misek explores in this short video essay, many such images don’t belong to the public. Indeed, accessing and presenting historical footage can be prohibitively expensive, and owning the rights to it is exceedingly lucrative. This results in some of the most vivid images of notable events languishing unseen. Using stunning archival imagery, cleverly designed on-screen text and a frenetic soundtrack, Captured Images tells the story of audiovisual ownership and the monetisation of history itself, making a compelling argument that this vital material belongs to the public. Misek punctuates the point at his film’s end as he credits, in large bold text, the image libraries from which he bought the footage used.
Director: Richard Misek
Music: Stereoart
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Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
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Music
The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation
3 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
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Politics and government
How it looked to Afghan women to see the Taliban return to power
33 minutes
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Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
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Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
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The ancient world
The six priestesses who kept the flame of ancient Rome alight at risk of death
5 minutes
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
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Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
12 minutes