Secrets of Nature

A collection of 19 short nature documentaries made by the British Instructional Films organisation during the 1920s and '30s. The films pioneer groundbreaking techniques of slow-motion, time-lapse and microscopic photography to explore animal, plant and insect life. Paving the way for the natural history programmes of today, the programmes reveal the quiet wonder of natural processes such as sweet peas unfurling in the sunlight, white owls swooping on their prey, sea life lurking on the ocean floor and butterflies patiently spinning their cocoons.