Video: Watch the first colour film ever shot

The century-old images will go on display at Bradford’s National Media Museum from today.

The footage, made by cinematic pioneer Edward Turner in around 1901, was found in the archives of the National Media Museum and with the help of experts at the BFI National Archive was transformed into watchable digital files. It includes footage of a macaw, soldiers marching through London and a group of children believed to be Turner’s young family.

It was previously believed that the Turner’s attempts to film in colour were a failure and that the first moving colour images were screened to the public on February 26, 1909, making these discoveries nearly a decade older.

Michael Harvey, curator of cinematography at the museum, said: “We sat in the editing suite entranced as full-colour shots made 110 years ago came to life on the screen.

“I realised we had a significant find on our hands. We had proved that the Lee and Turner process worked. The public can see the Lee and Turner footage for the first time in more than one hundred years as it premieres today as part of a free display.”