Guides and databases: English: Audio Visual Resources

Film, video, and television streaming

Streaming services

The library subscribes to video streaming services, including Kanopy, which includes award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases; Academic Video Online, which includes documentary films from Film Platform and the BBC Landmark video series; BFI Player, which includes subscribed feature films; and BoB National (Box of Broadcasts), a searchable database of TV and Radio broadcasts (including films).

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
Kanopy 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.
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.

Theatre productions online

Filmed theatre productions are available on DVD and within BoB and Kanopy, described above. They are also available in the following databases and websites:

BBC Shakespeare Archive Resource
UCL users must register for an account with your UCL email and create a password. Features over 900 programmes from the BBC’s archive of Shakespeare’s plays, poems and sonnets
Digital Theatre+
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
Drama Online
Drama Online introduces new writers alongside iconic names in playwriting history, providing contextual and critical background through scholarly works and practical guides. Access includes the Bloomsbury & Faber Collection, Nick Hern Books, National Theatre Collection, RSC Live and Shakespeare's Globe on Screen.

MIT Global Shakespeares
A collaborative project providing online access to Shakespeare performances from many parts of the world.

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.

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".

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 Kanopy

Source: Kanopy, Inc

Kanopy
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 Explore

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

Explore guide