"To read Dickens... is like entering a dream."

  - Michael Eaton, Dramatist and Dickens Adaptor

Dickens' narrative style is considered by many to be inherently cinematic - that he wrote in an incredibly visual way which pre-empted or 'dreamed' the ways in which film is able to build scenes and tell stories. So it would seem inevitable that, when the first moving images did appear in the late 19th century, filmmakers would look to the works of Dickens for inspiration - not only because he was Britain's most popular author, but because his works lent themselves so perfectly to the new medium.

With the help of Dickens expert Michael Eaton and Bryony Dixon, the BFI's silent film curator, this short film explores the world of silent cinema: its audience, its innovations and its fascinating relationship with Dickens' stories.

Images courtesy of the Charles Dickens Museum.