Synopsis:

Arguably the film that began the British Documentary Film movement, Drifters is about the herring fishing industry in the North Sea, following a group of fishermen as they leave their village and head out to sea. More poetic than the didactic style of documentary Grierson came to espouse, Drifters presents a fairly romanticised vision of the fishermen whose lives are changing due to the modernisation of the industry. A preoccupation for him was presenting the heroism of the working man, and the film's shots of the fishermen at work emphasise the intensity of the labour and the harsh conditions.

The influence of Battleship Potemkin, which Grierson had helped to title for its English-language release, is evident in its montage and themes, and the film was premiered at the Film Society on the same bill as Eisenstein's film.