Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

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34 DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER FILMS FOR TOMORROW An abridged version of a lecture delivered by Thomas Baird, Director of the Film Division of the British Information Services in America, to the Art Alliance of Philadelphia on April 9th, 1946 There is an important distinction to be made between the film which merely teaches a skill or bolsters up the curriculum, and the film which adds to our general knowledge and enriches our understanding of our day-to-day world. As an example of what 1 think is a good educational film, I can mention Hydraulics* This is not a classroom film but it helps to explain an important basic principle. With similar explanations of similar topics, the day-today world in which we live would become more intelligible. We have need of this type of knowledge, factual and dispassionate, to help us to keep our bearings in a world growing ever more complex. But factual and dispassionate knowledge is not enough for our day-to-day citizenship. We must extend our thinking to cover the problems of the world we live in, and 1 have chosen as the second film one entitled Man — One Family. t It discusses the German theory of race and shows its invalidity. This film, in contrast to the earlier one, can more properly be described as documentary, and it is important to examine the difference between the documentary and the educational film. It is of course a matter of emphasis and degree, purpose and intention. The educational film can be a classroom film to be used by a teacher as he would use blackboard and chalk, wall map pr model. The teacher uses it as an illustration in teaching a curricular subject. Or an educational film can go beyond merely illustration, and can present an orderly exposition of an idea or a theory. On the other hand, the documentary film fulfils a purpose which, if educational, is not essentially a classroom or curricular problem. Its subject is the interpretation of the democratic process. In the early twenties the critics of democracy were pointing out that democracy could be effective, indeed only might survive, if every citizen could comprehend his own participation in the job of government. Universal education has made the great majority of people competent to ask questions, and upon the Government's ability to answer these questions — to inform the public about the issues on which men will cast their votes and so help to govern their lives — the future of democracy largely depends. With this in mind, and in an attempt to create a dramatic shorthand which would not only record the life of the nation, but would enliven it in the minds of the people, the British Government adopted film as a means of communication. It was a way of discovering the national life. We all know how much the economic and financial set-up of the motion-picture industry determines the content and style of its pictures. Documentary films achieved a certain freedom from this financial control, because they were made on a sponsorship basis and did not necessarily seek at the box office the recovery of production costs. This business of Government films is, of course, suspect in many quarters, and before we go any further, we might look this problem straight in the face. Too long has the odium of Hitler's bludgeoning of the minds of the German people been allowed to mask the real significance of a Government information service — the real necessity to inform and give understanding to the community, whether that community is living at peace or at war. During the war this special function of film, to discover and articulate our daily life and to illumine it with new thoughts, was ♦See D.H.L Vol. II. No. 2, p. 28. Sei D.N.L. Vol. VI, £lo. 52, p. 24. Ironically, the C.O.I, is not allowed to send this ilm to l urope. Perhaps souk members of the Foreign OMice are themselves upholders of tiie racial heresies the film seeks to uproot. greatly developed. It was a time when we saw many nations and many citizens take up their responsibilities; we saw men sail abroad to fight; we saw people who stayed at home and who did not run away either from the enemy or from their jobs or from their responsibilities; we saw people carry on their work or take on new jobs with a vigour and imagination unpre:edented. The war was fought well, not only with the sweat and toil of arms but in peoples' minds, because they knew a great deal about it. Radio, Press and films recorded and described the situation as no other event in history has been recorded before, and this was done while the battle still raged. But they did more, they pictured ideas — the ideas we fought for and also the ideas in the enemy's mind. And now the problem will be the conduct of the peace, and it will matter little what we as individuals want of this world if we do not get peace and are prepared to settle merely for a cessation of hostilities. It could be argued, without much difficulty, that our record in the peace is not so good. We have brought liberation to two continents, but there are some who ask already have we brought food, have we brought efficiency, have we brought comfort, have we brought hope? If we fail to bring unity not only among the Allies but to all the liberated territories, Nazism may yet live in the hope that the world will turn again to its rejected New Order. Some say that there is little hope for the world unless there is new evidence of a profound belief among all the Allies, which we can share with the liberated countries, to prove that we can save the world for the right things and for the right way of life. Looking back on the last peace it is easy to be wise after the event and to say that we failed because we did not know. This time it will be less easy to say that we do not know. Great new powers for explaining the problems and the jobs to be done are to hand. To have an idea of how powerful and effective they are, we have only to look at what we have done in the war. In Britain, we have seen the Government take up the challenge to tell the people what the war was about and what was required of people in their everyday citizenship. We have seen the Government conscious enough of its stewardship to explain its actions and explain what wartime citizenship demanded. This was done not only in the magnificent words of the Prime Minister and not only on the floor of the House of Commons but in more humble ways, in pamphlets and booklets, in the Press and on the radio and in films. In the United States we have seen the War Department conscious of its obligations to a citizen army. We have seen film after excellent film come out to explain to the soldier what the war was about and to tell the public what the Army was doing. Many examples could be given of how in both our countries the Governments and the official organisations have described the battles and the victories. For the first time in history, through such a film as Desert Victory, the people of many nations could follow and understand the fight as it was being fought. This is a remarkable and unprecedented fact, and we should remember that the Battle of Waterloo was fought and won three days before anyone in London knew. But it is a spectacular example and not the most important one. There are many humble films which have played as important a part. When the war came to England all of us were required to learn a new citizenship. All of us had to learn how to keep alive and how to get along in an island bombarded by the enemy and threatened with invasion. Mam films were made and shown to the whole cinema