The Family History Film team is preparing to film an interview with a client in a bright minimalist living room.

Family History Films researcher carefully cataloguing a family’s photographic archive — preserving treasured visual histories with meticulous care

Family History Films crew filming a military expert speaking on camera — bringing historical depth and authority to illustrate a family’s story

Scenic view of a large body of water with mountains in the background on a clear, sunny day.

Family History Films crew are setting up filming equipment in a client's garden with grass, plants, and a brick fence. One man is standing and adjusting the camera, while the other is kneeling on the ground working on a piece of equipment.

People on a sandy beach, some taking photos and others wading in the shallow water, with a distant tree-lined shoreline and a blue sky with a few clouds.

Indoor scene with a camera setup pointing towards a large window showing a city skyline with tall buildings, some with modern architecture. The room has two blue chairs in front of the window.

A man operating a professional video camera in a bookstore, with another man browsing books in the background.

A man filming on a city sidewalk with a professional camera, a woman in floral clothing standing beside a rocky hill, cars on a curved road, and people walking with a stroller.

Family History Films is the world’s first and leading private legacy documentary company

Since 2017 we have delivered a fully-managed service producing beautiful, bespoke, feature-length documentaries for private clients.

In addition to our films, we offer exquisitely produced hardback books and comprehensive archiving services. These ensure that your family's history is meticulously documented, preserved and beautifully presented - creating a treasured heirloom for future generations.

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Office bragging rights are officially on the line as the FHF World Cup sweepstake results have been drawn. IT’S COMING HOME (somewhere)

A successful day of genealogical research for our team at the British Library, the world's largest library with over 200 million+ catalogued items.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of JFK’s assassination. One of our client’s ancestors worked closely with President John F. Kennedy and later served in his administration as Assistant Secretary. He spoke of Kennedy as a magnetic, charismatic leader, someone he deeply admired. He was brought into Kennedy’s circle during the early 1960 campaign period, contributing to speechwriting and policy discussions at the heart of the administration. He would often recall one of Kennedy’s key political instincts, “keep your enemies close.”

Working with family histories every day has changed how many of us think about our own families, encouraging us to ask more questions, preserve old memories and value stories that might otherwise be lost. Here are a few reflections from the FHF team on what family history and working here mean to them.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay becoming the first climbers to successfully reach the summit of Mount Everest, after years of failed attempts by others. One of our clients shared the remarkable story of an ancestor who helped lead Operation Everest in 1946, a groundbreaking study that proved humans could adapt to extreme altitudes. Using simulated conditions, the project transformed our understanding of how the body responds to reduced oxygen at the height of Mount Everest. In 1950, he was with a group that climbed the south face of Everest, blazing the trail of the route used by Hillary and Norgay to reach its summit three years later.

FHF Researcher Ellen Taylor and her mother’s family have done extensive genealogical research on their Swedish forebears. Among their notable ancestors is Christian Thum, Ellen’s 10-times great-grandfather. He was one of the earliest identifiable professional actors active in Sweden, led the theater of the Swedish royal court from 1628 to 1645, and founded the first theater in Sweden and Scandinavia, Björngårdsteatern.

One of our client's ancestors was still a teenager when he joined the Army Air Corps during the Second World War. He rarely spoke in detail about his experiences, though his family always sensed their weight. In May 1944, he was assigned to the 376th Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force and became the lead pilot of a B-24 Liberator used in the Allied strategic air campaign across Europe. From Italy, he and his crew flew long and perilous missions over enemy territory. At altitudes around 30,000 feet, crews endured freezing temperatures, anti-aircraft fire and the constant threat of enemy fighters. The ancestor later described the aircraft as “tin cans with bombs,” capturing both their fragility and the courage it took to fly them.

We will soon be heading to Vilnius, Lithuania, to carry out filming for a client’s family migration story, and walk the streets of their ancestors. Napoleon coined it “the Jerusalem of the North” in 1812 while passing through the city, reportedly marveling at its large Jewish population and the density of religious life?

A year ago today, we wrapped filming in Hong Kong. Recently, we were incredibly proud to deliver the finished film to the family.

Our team at Family History Films has been inspired by our time spent uncovering powerful family stories. It has motivated us to look a little closer at our own. After sitting down with his own grandparents to ask questions he had never considered, Project Manager Nico learned they were refugees forced to relocate from Turkey to Greece during the population exchange of the early 1920s - a moment of upheaval that reshaped countless family histories across both countries. Pictured here are Greek refugees at the Port of Mudanya, Turkey (1922). Read more of our staff stories on the recent blog on our website!

Here’s some of the wonderful feedback we’ve received from clients recently. Head over to the Testimonials page on our website to read more!

Our very own Senior Researcher, Cosima, has a remarkable family history of her own. Her great aunt, Nancy Littlewood, was part of the top secret codebreaking operation at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, working in Hut 6 to help decipher German Enigma messages. Like many of the women who worked there, Nancy never spoke about her role, bound by the Official Secrets Act, and took those secrets to her grave. Only recently has her contribution been formally recognised, she is now listed on the Bletchley Park Roll of Honour as one of the alumni of St Hugh’s College, Oxford who served in this extraordinary covert effort. Nancy (far left) is pictured here with her colleagues. Read more of our personal stories on our website’s blog!

Tomorrow is International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day or Labour Day in many countries, a global moment to recognise workers and the labour movement. The date traces back to 1886, when workers in the United States began a general strike demanding an eight hour working day, culminating in the Haymarket affair. One of our client’s grandfathers helped set up Dupaco Community Credit Union, founded in 1948 by 10 employees of the Dubuque Packing Company in Iowa, who each invested just $5. Today, Dupaco serves over 150,000 members. The work of the company’s union helped ensure that workers at ‘The Pack’ were among the best paid in the city.

40 years ago today, archaeologists announced the discovery of the world’s oldest surviving paper map fragment at the Fangmatan site in Gansu, China. Drawn on a small scrap of hemp paper, the findings pushed back our understanding of map history by hundreds of years. In our films, books, and research reports, we use maps constantly to trace how families moved across cities, countries, and continents. They are records of movement, place, and human story.

Even though our filming trip schedules are packed with interviews, archiving, logistics and long drives, we still try to make time to experience a little of the places our work takes us. This time, it was to an NBA game - quite a novelty for our UK based team members! 🏀

What you see vs what we see. Here’s how we set up for our final day of filming in Portland last week. Now it’s on to the writing and editing rooms, to transform the footage into an heirloom our clients can cherish for generations.

Our new blog, written by Senior Researcher Cosima Littlewood, has just arrived. This one is a little different, as this time we are the ones being interviewed! Cosima recently sat down with some of our team to discuss the impact that working for FHF has had on us, and invited us to share some of the stories that our own ancestors have imparted. Titled ‘From 17th century Swedish theatre to WWII codebreaking,’ this edition features some of the remarkable stories that our staff have had the pleasure of discovering about their own family history, and highlights how working for the company has taught them the value of passing them down. Click the link in our bio to read it on our website:

Here are a couple of BTS shots from our second day of filming in Portland. We interviewed both family and friends, exploring topics of childhood, heritage, careers, and life as grandparents.

FHF have landed in Portland! We spent our first day capturing b-roll across the city and finished with a visit to Powell’s, the world’s largest independent bookstore.

Did you know one of America’s most notorious outlaws had roots in rural Wales? Jesse James can trace his family line back to Little Newcastle, Pembrokeshire, where his great-grandfather William James was born in 1754 before emigrating to America - a trip often resulting from religious persecution or financial hardship. The family later moved west to Missouri, where Jesse grew up. After fighting as a Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War, James conducted a series of robberies, murders, and train hold-ups in the 1870s, becoming the country's most wanted criminal.

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