Restored by the BFI National Archive and released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time, Winstanley is an astonishingly authentic historical film, and a powerful, moving story of one extraordinary man's vision, a 1975 feature from filmmakers Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo, the creators of the superb drama documentary It Happened Here.

In 1649, with poverty and unrest sweeping England following the Civil Wars, a group of impoverished men and women, known as the Diggers, form a settlement on St George's Hill, Surrey. Inspired by the visionary leadership of Gerrard Winstanley (brilliantly played by Miles Halliwell), they attempt to assert their right to cultivate and share the wealth of the common land, but are met with crushing hostility from local landowners and government troops.

Winstanley, adapted from the novel Comrade Jacob by David Caute and the writings of Gerrard Winstanley, is to be released on UK DVD and Blu-ray by the BFI on 3rd August 2009 at the RRP of £19.99 for the DVD and £24.99 for the Blu-ray. A new restoration from the BFI National Archive will be accompanied by the following extra features:

• New filmed interview with Kevin Brownlow and Mollo (38 mins);
• It Happened Here Again (Eric Mival, 1976, 48 mins) – the making of Winstanley;
• 9 Dalmuir West (Kevin Brownlow, 1962, 12 mins) – a record of the last weekend of Glasgow trams;
• Illustrated 32-page booklet with contributions by Marina Lewycka (author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian), Eric Mival, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Tom Milne, and David Robinson; plus biographies and credits.