Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum founded in 1917 to record the story of the Great War. This was later expanded to include all military operations in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since August 1914. IWM’s collections are an invaluable multi-media resource including photographs, film, art, documents, sound, and 3D objects that reveal the causes, course, and consequences of war, whether allied or enemy, service or civilian, military, or political, social, or cultural. Notable collaborations with production companies and documentary makers using IWM’s archive include Peter Jackson’s award-winning film They Shall Not Grow Old and  World War II: From The Frontlines for Netflix.

IWM's film collection holds over 25,000 hours of moving images, including official newsreels, public information films, amateur film and documentaries, representing over a hundred years of filmmaking. There is extensive coverage of the First and Second World Wars, including unedited combat films shot by the British Army, RAF and Admiralty cameramen, as well as more recent material from the former film library of NATO.  As an official repository under the 1958 Public Records Act, the archive continues to receive material from the Ministry of Defence.

In 2020, IWM initiated a preservation project to digitise 1.8 million films, photographs, and sound recordings of our most vulnerable media from the Cold War era. To facilitate requests outside the approved programme, IWM offers a Digitisation on Demand service.

The IWM Film website is designed for the needs of commercial users and offers free screener downloads and HD clip delivery.

The Image & Film Licensing team includes experienced film curators. Contact the team to order HD material and research assistance for your project.  All our net revenue goes to support IWM and its commitment to ensuring the collection is accessible online for future generations.