Library guides and databases: Fine Art and History of Art: Audio Visual Resources

Film, video, and television streaming

Artists' film, movies, documentaries, theatre

These databases have moving image content relating to the History of Art and Fine Art practice. See also the full list of databases with audio visual content.

The content of some of these databases can be discovered by searching Explore (e.g. Kanopy, World Cinema Collection) but others will need to be searched individually. The content of these databases is not discoverable via an Explore search:

BFI Player
BoB (Box of Broadcasts)
Electronic Arts Intermix
Video Data Bank

Academic Video Online
Academic Video online delivers more than 66,000 titles spanning subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. Accessibility statement for Academic Video Online.
BFI Player
Access for UCL students and staff only. To set up access to your BFI Player subscription follow these steps:
1. Go to BFI Player and create an account OR sign in if you already have one by selecting 'Already have an account? Sign in'
2. Select University College London from the dropdown list
3. Login using your UCL username and password.
Once you've set up your subscription, you can login on BFI Player for the remainder of this academic year; BFI Player is unavailable outside the UK; it is to be used by UCL students and staff for academic purposes only and access is limited to the subscription content
Bloomsbury Video Library: Arts and Humanities Collection
Previously called ArtFilms. Featuring international content across the visual arts and performing arts, film, history this collection features exclusive indie films and shorts, avant-garde performances, interviews with renowned writers, artists, choreographers, performers and practitioners, documentaries and more
BoB (Box of Broadcasts)
Access for UCL students and staff only. Access to BoB is only permitted within the United Kingdom. Requires login with UCL username and password. BoB is Learning on Screen’s on demand TV and radio service for education allowing users to record programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels, access over 2.2 million broadcasts dating back to the 1970s, create playlists, clips and clip compilations; search programme transcripts and subtitles; embed content in VLEs and share on social media
Digital Theatre+
Best streamed on Chrome, Safari, or Edge. Featuring filmed productions, practitioner interviews, and a wide range of written introductory/contextual materials. Including Digital Theatre's own recordings alongside collections such as the Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the BBC, Broadway Digital Archive, Eclipse, Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra and LA Theatre Works audio radio-plays. Practitioner interviews exploring process, craft and technique with academics, playwrights and industry insiders and expert research resources such as encyclopedia entries, workshops, lectures and essays written by academics and industry insiders.
Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI): Educational Streaming Site
EAI's Educational Streaming Site, contains full-length streaming videos for the featured artists.
Kanopy
Best streamed on Chrome, Safari, or Edge. Providing video streaming to over 26,000 films including thousands of award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases. The collection includes a number of leading producers, such as the Criterion Collection, PBS, Kino Lorber, New Day Films, The Great Courses, California Newsreel, BBC and hundreds more. Accessibility statement for Kanopy.
MediaPlus
A service for UK higher and further education community bringing more than 100,000 videos, images, and sound recordings to your screen.
National Theatre Collection : Drama Online
Drawing on 10 years of NT Live broadcasts, alongside high-quality archive recordings, the National Theatre Collections 1 & 2 contain 50 filmed performances
RSC Live : Drama Online
The RSC Live Collection contains 26 films of live Royal Shakespeare Company productions from 2013 onwards. New RSC productions will continue to be added as they are filmed, as the RSC works through Shakespeare’s canon.
Theatre in Video
Streaming video of performances of more than 100 plays and 60 film documentaries, including the BBC Shakespeare Series. When complete, it will include more than 350 plays and documentaries from the 1930s onwards.
Video Data Bank (VDB) Streaming
Offering access to a collection of video art and experimental moving image work by and about contemporary artists. The VDB’s collection includes the work of more than 600 artists and 6,000 video art titles.
World Cinema Collection : Films on Demand
Streaming films from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, from the silent era, the mid-20th century, as well as award-winning contemporary works.

Art Audio Visual

The Art collections in the Main Library include a section of audio visual material which consists of:

DVDs: artists' film, documentaries and interviews with artists
Audio CDs: music by artists and music which has influenced movements in art history (e.g. Minimalism).

To browse the collection, search Explore using the term ART AV and filter your results to show only those items in the Main Library.

DVD collections

UCL library collections include DVDs, which can be borrowed and watched at home or in the library. You can search for a film in our DVD collection in Explore. Type your search term, for example: the title of the film or the name of the director, plus the word "DVD".

Images

These databases include image collections relating to the history and theory of art. See also the full list of databases that include images covering other subject areas.

Bridgeman Education
Access to over 390,000 images. To download iPhone app click here and enter username/password.
Britannica Image Quest
Britannica Image Quest is an online image library which contains images from the worlds best providers including National Geographic, Getty Images, National History Museum and many more. This easy-to-use online portal provides quick access to rights-cleared high-quality images.
VADS : Visual Arts Database
VADS provides a national collection of over 140,000 images from over 300 art and design collections across the UK. The images cover the broad range of the visual arts including applied arts, architecture, design, fashion, fine art, and media

Search the BFI Player

BFI Player
Access for UCL students and staff only. To set up access to your BFI Player subscription follow these steps:
1. Go to BFI Player and create an account OR sign in if you already have one by selecting 'Already have an account? Sign in'
2. Select University College London from the dropdown list
3. Login using your UCL username and password.
Once you've set up your subscription, you can login on BFI Player for the remainder of this academic year; BFI Player is unavailable outside the UK; it is to be used by UCL students and staff for academic purposes only and access is limited to the subscription content

Search Kanopy

Source: Kanopy, Inc

Kanopy
Best streamed on Chrome, Safari, or Edge. Providing video streaming to over 26,000 films including thousands of award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases. The collection includes a number of leading producers, such as the Criterion Collection, PBS, Kino Lorber, New Day Films, The Great Courses, California Newsreel, BBC and hundreds more. Accessibility statement for Kanopy.

Search BOB National

BoB (Box of Broadcasts)
Access for UCL students and staff only. Access to BoB is only permitted within the United Kingdom. Requires login with UCL username and password. BoB is Learning on Screen’s on demand TV and radio service for education allowing users to record programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels, access over 2.2 million broadcasts dating back to the 1970s, create playlists, clips and clip compilations; search programme transcripts and subtitles; embed content in VLEs and share on social media

Search Explore

Check out our Explore guide to find out more about how to use Explore for your research.

Explore guide