Aerial Anarchists is a 1911 British silent science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 directed by Walter R. Booth

Walter R. Booth

Walter Robert Booth was a British magician and early pioneer of British film working first for Robert W. Paul and then Charles Urban mostly on "trick" films, where he pioneered the use of hand-drawing techniques that lead to the first British animated film, The Hand of the Artist...

.

It is the third and final film in Booth's science fiction series seeking to present a picture of futuristic aerial warfare

Aerial warfare

Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift...

. It followed on from Aerial Torpedo

Aerial torpedo

The aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, the torpedo, designed to be dropped into water from an aircraft after which it propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited...

and Aerial Submarine and is the first real science fiction series made in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The story focuses on an attack against London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 by a fleet of airships from an unknown country.

It has been suggested by sources including www.silentsf.com that this film is based upon the E. Douglas Fawcett novel Hartmann the Anarchist

Hartmann the Anarchist

Hartmann the Anarchist or The Doom of the Great City is a science fiction novel by Edward Douglas Fawcett first published in 1892. It remained out of print for over 100 years and has only recently been re-published...

Plot

There is currently no known surviving footage of this film and all information is based upon the original catalog synopsis. The film contains scenes of a bombing and its aftermath throughout London and features prominently the bombing of St. Paul's Cathedral and a railway disaster in which a train is seen to leap into a chasm.