Rough Sea (1900) James Bamforth
Rough Sea is a film by James Bamforth shot in 1900 at an unidentified location on the British coast. The film was produced by the production company founded by the director himself: the Bamforth Company.
Rough seas were a popular subject for early filmmakers keen to demonstrate the thrilling new medium of moving pictures. It was an especially popular subject in Great Britain where the first film to receive a public screening was Rough Sea at Dover by Birt Acres, film from which James Bamforth was evidently inspired.
Nor was Birt Acres the first to be fascinated by the sea; in 1891 Étienne-Jules Marey had recorded waves crashing on a rock in the Bay of Naples, his La Vague is one of the oldest surviving films in history.