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The Launch of the Punta Medanos at Wallsend (1950) | BFI National Archive

453 views · Published 12 December 2017 · 8:13 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: BFI · 2017 · Film & Animation

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A bit-part player in the Falklands conflict of 1982 was the Argentine naval tanker Punta Medanos. Thirty years earlier, all 500 feet of this newly built behemoth are seen sliding into the waters of the Tyne - twice. You don't need to understand the Spanish title cards to see that the two countries enjoyed, at least for the time being, a good business relationship.

The copy of the film in the BFI National Archive is something of an oddity. The footage seems unedited, with the launch seen from two angles - not intercut, but separately with glimpses of construction stages in between. But the effusive Spanish titles at the beginning and end of the film seem fully finished - even if some of them refer to things unseen.

This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/orphan_works/index_en.htm.  This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the rights holder of this film can be found in the EU Orphan Works Database: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/orphan-works-database 

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