Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

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DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER HI CORRESPONDENCE about FILMS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT Emm a Local CoverniiK'iit PRO DEAR SIR, I was more than glad to see that space had been given to the article by Alec Spoor in the last issue Of the DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER, and I must strongly support all he has written on the idea of films to explain the workings of local government to the people. As a practising Public Relations Officer, 1 feel that the cinema, in furthering the cause of citizenship, can do much to combat the appalling apathy of the average citizen regarding matters of local public interest, an apathy of which the cinema is often accused of being the first cause! There is no doubt that much of the social disorder apparent today is due to the fact that the sense of civic pride and native consciousness has lost its rightful place in our lives. In the old days of local government from the parish pump there was a great deal of the personal and intimate element linked with the townspeople's deliberations. Every name was known, almost every face, and sometimes even their private ambitions were common knowledge. The absence of many of the modern social services, administered by the Town Hall, particularly the public health and hospital services, called forth a continued application of the principles of neighbourliness and friendly cooperation. Many of the opportunities for the expression of these principles are withdrawn from our modern social order and, in depending to a great extent on the uninterrupted continuance of the services organized from the Town Hall, we have lost a great deal of our sense of dependence on each other, as neighbours and members of a community. Social surveys have revealed that the majority of people are bound to any sort of code of ethics only by cobweb chains, by an inherent sense of decency, rather than a defined attitude to life. They remain generally out of focus and bewildered, and it is this aimlessness which breeds apathy and, let us be honest, is a considerable factor in filling the cinemas. Of the multitude of regular cinema-goers, how many are 'choosey', and how many go out of sheer habit, principally because the cinema is one form of entertainment which requires little effort on their part, but may be relied upon to shut out drab reality for an evening. Is the cinema content to be regarded as an opiate to an already bored population so long as box office receipts are satisfactory? Or does it feel that being, as it is widels acknowledged, a most pleasant form of diversion, it might use its undoubted attraction to broaden and enrich the outlook and the lives of its patrons' It has a golden opportunity for so doing. There is no reason why the education of the public should be confined to educating the children at their special matinees, nor is it necessary to revise the entire policy of the film industry which is, I take it, to give the public what it wants. Only short documentary films are needed to remind John Citizen of the ever watchful care exercised by the local authority on his behalf. Local government is a very interesting human story, beginning even before the birth of every new citizen, present when he first sees the light o\' day, and ready to put on his first nappie! It watches over his health in the first anxious weeks and then, reassured, follows him to the da) nursery, sits with him in the park, provides him with babyhood amusements, and receives him with due pride into school. Local government shares with the parents the duty of instilling into the future citizen the virtues of decency and uprightness, teaches him his limitations as well as his righis. and having fitted him for life, helps him to decide on his future career. The libraries are available for his use for pleasure and instruction. The parks and swimming baths and sports facilities are always there for his recreation, and when boy meets girl, there's a friendly tree upon which to carve two hearts and an arrow. For the responsibilities of manhood and housewifery, the background services are always at work. The services providing for the general safety and health of the people, clean food, fair measure and good weight, are ensured. The streets are kept clean and dry, refuse is taken away. Sanitary inspectors are always on call. Perhaps John Citizen takes an allotment. Incase of accidents, there is an ambulance service. In any distress, physical, mental or financial, local government is there offering the helping hand, the hand of the community, held out to any of its members. It is surely a worthy motive; this renaissance of the sense of citizenship, which can only be brought about h> showing the work of the Town Hall in a human and interesting way. Most people are concerned only with matters which affect their own lives. Local government embraces all. and its impact is everywhere apparent so very apparent that it remains unheeded. The streets we walk on, the schools our children attend, sometimes the house we live in (or would like to live in), the open spaces we frequent at times ; all are prov ided by the local authority. The cinema should do all it can to press this fact home to the mass of uninterested citizens, for until the general public take more interest in local affairs, we shall continue to fall short of full democratic representation. Yours faithfully, JOHN C. SUTCLIFFE Public Relations Officer Town Clerk's Department, Town Hall, Ealing, W5. INFORMATIONAL FILM YEAR BOOK An essential handbook for everyone interested in the nontheatrical film. Contributors include: John Grierson, Paul Rotha, Basil Wright, Andrew Buchanan. Oliver Bell, J. B. Frizell, Forsyth Hardy, Norman Wilson, etc. There is a Buyer's Guide to Apparatus and full lists of makers, producers, libraries, organizations, etc., with full details of the year's documentary films. Illustrated, 10s. 6.7. net. By post 1 1 \ READY SHORTLY FILMGOERS' REVIEW FORSYTH HARDY'S third annual survey of the year's best films, with full production details and man) illustrations \ invaluable record for reference ; 6d. B is.9d. DOCUMENTARY 47 Asurvey of recent documentary production bj leading writers of the movement and a record of the first Intel national Festival of Documentary I Urns,] dinburgh, September, 1947. ( opiousl) illustrated. 2s. 6d. By post 2 T II E A L It V N P It K S S . Publish is tiers 4 2 FREDKRICK SIR I 1 I . I I) 1 N K I R G II ,