Media and audio / visual
The Library provides access to many sources of media and audio / visual content. Here you can access a number of film and television resources that allow you to access feature films, television and radio broadcasts, and video clips online. For a full list of databases the Library subscribes to please see our recommended databases page.
Video-based databases
Click on the information buttons below to find out more about each resource.
- BBC Drama Films and Documentaries This link opens in a new window
Film adaptations of classic and contemporary plays.
- BFI Player This link opens in a new window
You need to register with your UoB email address via the student URL: https://player.bfi.org.uk/students. Once you have submitted the form, select ‘University of Bristol’ from the Institution dropdown list and login with your UoB credentials when prompted. You can then simply login until with your individual email/password combination via the main BFI link above until 30/09/2024. You'll need to resubscribe each year by following the student link and selecting 'Already have an account? Sign in'. We recommend ticking the student newsletter box.
Please note:
• BFI Player is unavailable outside the UK
• Rentals and festival events are not included in the subscription offer - Box of Broadcasts (BoB) This link opens in a new window
Enables staff and students to record and watch freeview broadcasts, create clips from new and archived TV and radio broadcasts, and embed them into Blackboard/ presentations. Please note: it can only be accessed in the UK. It is each user’s responsibility to ensure that the materials made available are used strictly within the terms and conditions of the licence.
- Ethnographic Video Online, Volumes 1 & 2, second edition This link opens in a new window
- Ethnographic Video Online: Volume 3, Indigenous Voices This link opens in a new window
The role of the traditional ethnographer is changing as the perspectives and epistemologies of indigenous peoples have taken on central significance in the discipline, challenging earlier representations and implicit “us versus them” constructs. In order to create a platform for indigenous voices to address issues from indigenous perspectives, the third volume of the ethnographic film series is dedicated to indigenous filmmakers.
- Ethnographic Video Online, Volume 4 This link opens in a new window
Volume 4 provides a space for visual anthropologists of today to showcase and disseminate their most compelling work. The focus is on curating award-winning titles from contemporary ethnographic film festivals.
- Globe on Screen This link opens in a new window
- Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Movies, documentaries, foreign films, classic cinema, independent films and educational videos.
- News on Screen This link opens in a new window
News coverage from 1910 to 1983 from the newsreels of organisations such as Pathe News, Gaumont British News and British Movietone News, plus access to films from Roundabout, the COI cinemagazine that promoted Britain to Asia from 1962-1974.
- Screenonline This link opens in a new window
A website devoted to the history of British film and television, and to Britain's social history as revealed by film and television. Please note that the video and audio clips can only be accessed through university computers, not through a home computer nor off campus.
- Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT) This link opens in a new window
Database of UK television and radio programmes including terrestrial, cable, and satellite television (with regional variations); all national and many local radio stations; with data available at least 10 days before transmission.
Newspapers
The library provides access to a large collection of UK and international newspapers, including many current publications and historic archives. Newspapers can provide important cultural and societal context, and can include reviews of the arts and opinion pieces.
