News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Lord Of The Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson has dramatically restored and coloured footage of the First World War - detailing what it felt like to be there like never before.

The Oscar winning director claims that the technicolour transformation "brings to life the human experience of the conflict".

Jackson used cutting edge techniques to modernise the 100-year-old footage, some of which has never been seen before.

The clips from the Imperial War Museum's vast archive have been used to stitch together a 3D film which will be seen later this year.

Hand-colourised, it will premiere at the BFI London Film Festival before airing on BBC1.

(Image: PA)

The film is part of a series of events announced by arts organisation 14-18 NOW.

Jackson said he wanted to restore the footage, some of which has been seen in documentaries before it underwent its transformation, to "beyond anything we've ever seen before".

"We started to do some experiments and I was honestly stunned by the results we were getting," he said.

"We all know what First World War footage looks like. It's sped up, it's fast, like Charlie Chaplin, grainy, jumpy, scratchy, and it immediately blocks you from actually connecting with the events on screen.

"But the results are absolutely unbelievable... This footage looks like it was shot in the last week or two, with high-definition cameras. It's so sharp and clear now."

The Hobbit filmmaker said: "The faces of the men just jump out at you. It's the faces, it's the people that come to life in this film.

"It's the human beings that were actually there, that were thrust into this extraordinary situation that defined their lives."

Jackson and his team combed through around 600 hours of audio interviews with veterans, from the BBC archives, recorded in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, for the film, which will also be shown in schools.

The interviews show "the experience of what it was like to fight in this war, not the strategy and battles but the social experience and the human experience of being in the war", he said.

It will show how the veterans "had to live it, what they had to eat, how they slept at night, how they coped with the fear", giving "a sense of what it was like to be in this war 100 years ago (from) the perspective of the people that were actually there", he said.

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Matt Hancock said: "The First World War changed Britain and the world forever and we must never forget the sacrifice of all those who served at home and abroad.

"This is an incredible cultural programme that will help even more people learn about how we went from entrenched conflict to peace in 1918."