Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

DOCUMENTARY HI M \l \\ s 107 itself is beautifully spoken by Jean Louis Barrault. Les Santons (28 minutes). A legend current in Provence of happenings on Christmas Eve has been made into a ballet, and is shown here danced by the ballet company of the Paris Opera. Paris 1900 (76 minutes). 1 his is a remarkable compilation of life in Paris between 1900 and 1914 made from contemporary material. Politicians, statesmen, royalty, artists, comedians, great figures of the stage, fashions and a number of odd items are all interwoven to provide a fascinating picture of the period. The film owes much to its music by Guy Bernard, which is as pointed and witty as the film itself. GERMANY Hunger (13 minutes). Designed for German i audiences, this film clearly and simply drives . home the fact that hunger is not a German I monopoly. As a result of the war, world food production is inadequate for the needs of its : people. It points to the responsibility of the Germans for this situation and indicates the remedies which they themselves must take. It's Up To You (16 minutes). This film contrasts two Germanies — the ancient, beautiful, peace-loving, industrious Germany with the brutal, bellicose, regimented Germany which has so recently led them to disaster. Which path they will follow is their choice for the future. ITALY Bianchi Pascoli (15 minutes). A beautifully photographed film which shows the Allied war graves in Italy and how the Italians are tending them. Citm Senza Tempo (11 minutes). Life in the | town of Pompeii is described as the camera : surveys the ruins. Corteo dei Re Magi (11 minutes). A study of the painting by Gossoli of the coming of the three kings of Bethlehem. Dramma Di Christo (11 minutes). A study of the life of Christ built up with masterly skill from the frescoes of Giotto in the Schrovegni Chapel. Padua. Germany Year Zero (80 minutes). This. Rossellini's latest feature, is a bleak study of Berlin in defeat. The story centres round a small boy. Edmund, whose father is ill. whose elder brother is hiding from the police and. therefore, cannot work, and whose sister is driven to frequent night clubs in the hope of getting food and cigarettes from Allied soldiers. Edmund keeps the family going by bartering on the Black Market, and stealing what he can. He is persuaded to poison his father, but later, overcome by doubts and remorse, he himself commits suicide. Nettezza Vrbana (12 minutes). A delightful human study of the street-cleaners in Italy. Romantici a Venezia (11 minutes). Venice as it would have appeared to some of the great romantic, who visited it. The sound track repeats the words of Byron, de Musset, D'Annun zio and Chopin, as the camera shows us the city. Zoo di Petra (6 minutes). A study of the domestic sculpture of the Romans from the Vatican museum which by brilliant editing succeeds in giving a sense of life and movement to the Static carvings of animals. INDIA Mother (12 minutes). Child (18 minutes). These are the first two films of a series made foi the United Nations dealing with the Indian Village Welfare services. They show an interesting picture of life in primitive villages and the difficulties which face the trained social workers who try to persuade them to more hygienic methods of living. The first deals with maternity care, the second with child welfare. Designed for native audiences, the tempo is slow and the treatment simple. NORWAY The Battle of Heavy Water (91 minutes). Made in co-operation with the French this is an exciting reconstruction of the struggle to get possession of the stocks of heavy water, essential for atomic research, and to sabotage the heavy water factory in Norway. The parts of the saboteurs are played by the men who were actually responsible for the work, and every incident is shown as it happened in reality. POLAND Apple Blossom (18 minutes). A pastoral film showing life in the country at the coming of spring. The Dragon of Cracow (22 minutes). A delightful puppet film which tells a fairytale about a poor shoemaker, who killed the cruel dragon which was ravaging the country, and married the King's daughter. The Flood (15 minutes). An exciting film which shows the damage done by floods during the spring of 1947 in Poland, and the slow heart breaking work of reconstruction aftei they had abated SPAIN i cos iU la Frontera (14 minutes) A study of the people of the town of Vrcos de la I rontera in Spain and of the country around it. Balele (7 minutes). A film of gieit vitality showing the native dances of Spanish Guinea, Un Dia en Santiago (11 minutes). A picture ot the town o( Santiago, where the sin me of St lames of CompOStella is situated SWEDEN A Divided World (9 minutes) I his. a new film by Sucksdorff, contrasts the cruelty of wild life in the forest with the peace and beauty of the church on its outskirts. The film is remarkable for the superb photography of the animals ihc Open Road (13 minutes). I his. another film by Sucksdorff. gives a picture of life in a gipsy encampment, in the north of Sweden. The Sacrifice (12 minutes). A remarkable and vivid reconstruction of the rite of human sacrifice as it was practised in Sweden in very early times. The Train (20 minutes). The story of a journey in Sweden as seen from a train. UNITED NATIONS Clearing the Way (33 minutes). The need for building the United Nations Headquarters in New York, how it is being planned, and what it will look like. First Steps (10 minutes). The treatment and rehabilitation of crippled children. Searchlight on the Nations (21 minutes). The PHOTOMICROGRAPHY Scientific and Nature Films Supervising: Dorothy Grayson, B.Sc. Whitehall, Wraysbury 9 Gt. Chapel St., W.l