In two series and over 20 films the directors of Wonderful London captured some of the most evocative images of the capital in the mid-1920s. These simple travelogues contrasted different aspects of city life – East End and West End, poor and rich, natives and immigrants – often looking beyond the stereotypes to show surprising views of the city. Cheaply produced, but told with wit and flair, the films offer a potent time capsule of a lost London. Of particular interest is Cosmopolitan London. Despite its inherent racism, the film provides an invaluable record of communities too often ignored by films of the 1920s. Here, among the over-populated districts of Limehouse and Tower Bridge, we see London's original Chinatown as well as the South Asian and African seamen and dockers working in the Port of London. These six new restorations by the BFI National Archive reintroduce the films' original tinting and toning. Bryony Dixon, BFI's curator of silent film, will introduce the screening.

Bryony Dixon & Robin Baker

Programme: London's Free Shows; London off the Track; London's Sunday; Cosmopolitan London; Flowers of London; Barging through London.

Live piano accompaniment Neil Brand