Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

DOCUMENTARY FILM NEWS 39 Art and the People by Sinclair Road ntei k new deal for the arts is slowly taking shape in Britain. Sometimes development seems more by accident than design but the task is a difficult one. One cannot order and arrange the production and supply of paintings or music or even films, as simply as one can provide the manufactured goods which people need. At the same time there are a number of very practical steps that have to be taken. In the first place, the creative worker needs the financial support which will enable him to follow his trade. Second, he needs a direct and .-, productive relationship with the public. The picture of the artist, living on coffee and crumbs in a garret writing or composing for himself alone stuff which no one else reads or hears, and who 5 finally turns out to be a genius after a tubercular death, may be romantic, but it is utterly wrong. It is another symptom of a society which is out of joint. In an age of full employment everyone should be enabled to work, whether their skill is at the lathe, the loom, the easel or the camera. On the other hand, it is no good creating the financial and social conditions in which the artist can work, without ensuring at the same time that the public has easy and ready access to the results of his work. An attentive and responsive public is a key to the whole problem. During the war years the number of people who went to the theatre and to concerts and who set foot in art galleries for the first time vastly increased. In the case of films too there was the beginning of a far more critical interest in what was being produced. At the end of the war the country was faced with the problem of giving this increased interest a more permanent framework. The Arts Council became an established body to develop music, arts and drama. Government sponsorship of films continued. There is much debate now about the further assistance which the Government must give to the film industry to allow film-making in Britain greater scope and opportunity. But again a practical problem arises. There is a lot that the State can do out of public funds to support the arts; but encouragement from the centre is useless without a genuine local response. Till now local activity has been inhibited by a number of things. Principally local authorities have not had the statutory power to go into this very important section of local life. There ha\e been a few exceptions. Under the Holidays-atHome Campaign city councils had the authority to provide concerts and entertainments of all kinds, but only so long as the war lasted. Seaside towns have also been allowed to spend a little money on entertaining their visitors. But by and large there has in the past been no country-wide sanction for civic encouragement of the arts. Now, the picture has been completely changed by the new Local Government Bill, which empowers local authorities to spend up to 6J. of the rates on arranging entertainments of all kinds. They can sponsor their own theatrical companies and orchestras, acquire or even build concert halls, theatres and cinemas. For the first time the & power to provide the facilities for people to enjoy the arts is available in Britain. In part these clauses in the Local Government Bill are an indictment of commercially provided entertainment which has failed in a number of respects to provide what is needed. In part it is a necessary development in the process of making educational and cultural facilities freely available to the public without whose interest and support there can be no real stimulus to the artist. And this is no idle phrase. If one looks back over the past one finds that solid public participation is an almost invariable condition of a period of artistic achievement. The opportunities which the new Local Government Bill provides are clear. But will they be taken? A new order on the Statute Book particularly when it is one of this kind, depends to a very large extent for its success on the degree of popular response. In other words much of the initiative now rests with all the local voluntary groups in the country, on the institutes, on the drama, music and film and other societies, to see that their local council uses its new powers and uses them wisely. When one compares the present status of the various arts and entertainments, the fact that there are only 200 theatres in the country, even fewer concert halls, as against some 4,700 cinemas, indicates obvious priorities for action. On the other hand, the enormous pre ponderance of cinema facilities should not blind one to the limitations of the entertainment they provide. In fact, the commercial cinema offers only a very narrow choice of films. The vast majority of the public is not at present able to see films made by other countries apart from America. Nor is it able to sec by any means all the films made in this country. The fate of documental) films trying to get the cinema distribution is the obvious example. The rapid post-war growth of the film Society Movement which now numbers as many as 150 societies is an example of the demand. But film societies have consistently been hampered to their development, by lack of halls, lack of projectors, the cost and difficulty of getting films to show. It is at this point that local councils can help. They should see to it that no local film society is being hamstrung by lack of facilities. They may even go to the length of establishing civic cinemas to ensure a wider choice of film entertainment than is available commercially. They can even promote the production of films. The pattern of what is needed and can be done is the same for the other arts as well. In all cases, too, it is up to those who have struggled against every kind of difficulty in building up local societies to see that their council gives the help and encouragement that is needed if the arts are to have their proper place in our national life. A Still from The British Are Tliey AftittiC?