Documentary News Letter (1940)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER MARCH 1940 the return of Sunday afternoon concerts, the re-opening of many Galleries, and the public-spirited efforts of Myra Hess and her colleagues in providing lunch-hour music in the National Gallery. To this list may now be added the determination of the Film Society movement to play its part. The black outlook of last September might well have been an incentive to film societies — many of which operate on slender finances — to play safe by closing down for the duration. Almost the reverse has happened. As is revealed on another page of this issue, many societies have continued their work, and in some cases have expanded their activities. For this in several cases they have been rewarded with increased membership. In Scotland, where the movement is strengthened by a wellorganised Federation, six out of ten member societies are in full operation. In the English provinces, activities in such centres as Tyneside and Manchester are in full swing. London, which tended to lag behind, has at last got two societies in operation, although the Film Society itself shows (most regrettably) no signs of life. It is impossible to underestimate the value of the work of the Film Society movement in improving audience approach to the cinema, in making important cultural films available to large numbers of people who would otherwise never have a chance of seeing them, and in encouraging free criticism and discussion of the Film. Their wartime energies should reap deserved rewards in increased membership and greater financial prosperity. Anthropology THE APPEARANCE at the London Polytechnic Cinema of a most admirable travelogue entitled Dark Rapture is a rem'mdeT of the curious lack of serious anthropological material so far recorded by the film. Expeditions to tropical or little-explored countries are hazardous and expensive undertakings, and the result has in most cases been that the financiers — or the companies to whom the material is sold — have seldom scrupled to substitute sensationalism for accuracy, and even to indulge in enough palpable fakery to cast suspicion on the genuine material. Honourable exceptions, such as Moana, Grass, Nanook, Chang, Voyage au Congo, Song of Ceylon are few and far between. Yet Dark Rapture shows that nothing is lost by sticking closely to the genuine; its interest, even in those sequences which are truly sensational, is never fictitious, while as a pure documentation of the habits and customs of the little-known tribes of Central Africa, it is surely of scientific as well as generalised value. The problem of anthropological study by film is thus proved to be largely financial ; and as it is difficult to expect commercial film companies to place boxoffice principles second to scientific integrity, it is to be presumed that genuine films of this type will continue to be rare, unless some other solution is found. Would it not be possible for Governments with Colonial possessions, and Geographical and Ethnographical institutes all over the world, to form and finance a central international organisation which would enable competent film makers to record the social and religious life of races, many of which, through impact with the West, are already losing the purity of their aboriginal culture? Such a plan — certainly in times of peace — would be welcomed not merely by the expert, but by the man-in-the-street in all parts of the world. The Imperial Institute SIR HARRY LINDSAY'S Annual Report makes, as usual, brave reading, especially the sections dealing with the Empire and G.P.O. Film Libraries. The demand for the films, which are largely used by schools, guilds, and all sorts of educational institutions, has once again increased. In 1939 some 37,000 copies were loaned, and at the same time the stock of films has been increased by 300 copies. A new and complete catalogue has also been issued. If anyone ever doubted the immense value of the service represented by this Library, the magnificent service it has supplied to teachers during the difficult conditions of evacuation are a significant answer. The real problem of the Library is to provide enough films to meet the demand. Ordinary wear and tear, no less than frequent careless handling on the part of inexperienced borrowers, make the life of the average print remarkably short. The Institute's own allocation for renewals and purchase of films is inevitably but regrettably small, and were it not for grants from such bodies as the Imperial Relations Trust, and presentations by Empire Governments, commercial concerns and the like, it would ht almost impossible for the Institute to fulfil its minimum func-. tions in this matter. There is a strong case to be made for some form of extra grant to strengthen this service on which sc many educationists have now learnt to rely, and which the; could, if its scope were widened, use to an even greater extent ! An International Convention UNDER THE Geneva Convention of 1933 countries pledge( themselves to exempt certified educational films from custom, duties. The convention has already been ratified by a numb of nations, including Belgium, Italy, Sweden, India, and thi United Kingdom. Under the original arrangement exemptio; from duty was acquired through a certificate issued by thi International Institute of Educational Cinematography i Rome. As far as this country was concerned, the exemptio was in the hands of the Board of Education acting on thi advice of the British Film Institute. The situation todaj. however, is somewhat different. In 1938 an agreement waj made at Geneva transferring the certification of films from thi Rome Institute (now defunct) to the International Institute c Intellectual Co-operation in Paris. The United Kingdom ha not yet ratified this agreement, but is expected to do so ver shortly. The free circulation of cultural films becomes mor and more important every year, and the sooner the new agrei ment is regularised over here the better. Not only film societiC' but also scientific and educational associations of all sor depend on being freed from crippling import duties, and tl' stress of war must not be allowed to modify the provisions < the original convention. til Comings and Goings THOMAS BAiRD hasTesigned from our Editorial Board on h appointment to the Film Division of the Ministry of Inform tion. We are sorry to lose him, but glad to report that Edg Anstey (Film Centre) is taking his place. i