This film is part of Free
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/881b330cfc42a17fca6ae305507bfd35.jpg?itok=xVjpdFUR)
Lines of Communication
Entrenched support for the front lines: French engineers lay cables to enable HQ to direct troops from as far away as possible
Overview
What these men wouldn't give for a mobile phone. Communication in war is key, and with the Western Front extending over 400 miles, both the telephone and the telegraph were essential to maintaining a coordinated campaign. This film is a great witness to the efforts of the unsung engineers as they lug cables down a six-foot trench, dug by hand, that stretches off onto the horizon.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/3ff7ee722c067ce4430325ce7e9098c3.jpg?itok=nEU4sipm)
No Mischief Here Can Satan Find for Idle Hands to Do No Mischief Here Can Satan Find for Idle Hands to Do
1917 1 mins Silent
Pathe's series on WWI turns its eye homeward in this edition about the interning of enemy aliens
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/103336fdbca5e2017138ccb57d393a53.jpg?itok=3W2Op3F6)
The Production of a Map The Production of a Map
Non-Fiction 1917 7 mins Silent
Worlds within worlds: a maps and globes factory, expertly charted on celluloid
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/56b69ce0187280bae1f359f32969bfef.jpg?itok=m4-kD-tD)
Metropolitan Police Ambulance Team Metropolitan Police Ambulance Team
1917 18 mins Silent
Metropolitan Police officers demonstrate their paramedic skills in this early training film
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/6345f68ca015d90696716aae0b03a84d.jpg?itok=PxhPhmrX)
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/e8862d6880debdf5f65b47acdcd8a5b7.jpg?itok=q8WZI1LI)
History of the War: The Birth Place of the Great War History of the War: The Birth Place of the Great War
1917 7 mins Silent
Episode of Pathé's series on WWI, focused on the outbreak of hostilities between Austria and Serbia
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/be9b46497b60e117b313e7e2d864da2c.jpg?itok=PJ5uyhbS)
Mighty Atoms Mighty Atoms
1917 8 mins Silent
While mothers make guns, children have fun: take a peek inside the Woolwich Nursery for the Children of Munition Workers
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/china-reunion.jpg?itok=HKKrho4y)
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/a2580a54-370a-4556-82bf-224cfa5a8462.jpg?itok=t7t-BBE0)
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Starve-Acre-01_0.jpg?itok=s4AdrWN9)
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Sky_Peals_02_0.jpg?itok=wgfALEaF)
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Early-Films-of-Michael-Powell.jpg?itok=7Dh0TUtH)
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Riviera_Revels.jpg?itok=Y3_5Fuq5)
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.