Using modern-day technology, filmmaker Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame, is remastering rare World War I footage from the Imperial War Museum archives, that looks as if it was shot last week rather than 100+ years ago.

“We are not making the usual film you’d expect on the First World War – we’re making a film which shows this incredible footage in which the faces of these men just jump out at you. It’s the human beings who were actually there, who were thrust into this extraordinary situation that defined their lives in many cases.”

 

Jackson is combining the remastered footage with BBC interviews with veterans recorded over the decades since the end of the war, providing a unique new perspective on the 20th century’s most shocking conflict.

The film will be screened in cinemas and schools across the UK, and broadcast on BBC One; further details of theatrical distribution will be announced later this year at 1418NOW.org.uk