Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

October, 1 945 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 35 large but transportable sound projectors. Each individual school will have in its own library film strips that are appropriate for teaching purposes in the various subjects taught in the school. By this arrangement any teacher of any school may use any film strip belonging to the institution or any film strip that may be in the general film library of the city system or obtained for a special purpose from large distributors of film strips. The large, transportable, sound projector will remain in the office of the Superintendent or the Supervisor of Instruction and will be used when the principal and faculty of any school want to present a sound-film to the entire student body of their school. These films may be partly J. L. Foust owned by the school system itself but most of them will be obtained as rentals from the Extension Department of the University of Kentucky and other agencies of film distribution. This program has already been started in a small way. Five of the individual schools obtained during the last school year a film-strip machine and the beginning of a film library. The Supervisor of Elementary Instruction has at her disposal a film-strip machine which she takes from building to building to present pictures that increase interest in the subjects that are being taught. The Board of Education has placed its order for the first sound projector and the machine will be delivered within a short while. Educational Value of the Documentary Film The term “documentary” has been used to describe a very wide range of films, from the simple instructional film to the elaborate dramatic feature-length type of subject, such as “Western Approaches.” And yet it Ralph Bond has directed many notable documentaries, including “Today We Live,” “When We Build Again,” “Big City,” “Oxford,” “Neighbors Under Fire,” and is now producing for the Ministry of Information through Worldwide Pictures, Ltd. He has been in this field since joining John Grieison at the Empire Marketing Board (subsequently the G.P.O. Film Unit) fifteen years ago. He founded a number of British film societies and is vice-president of the Association of Cinematicians. BY RALPH BOND Courtesy of British Broadcasting Corporation would be a mistake to classify any and every type of film which records some aspect of reality as a documentary. For instance, the ordinary travel film often seen in movie houses could not be described as documentary. The most popular travel films are those made by FitzPatrick. FitzPatrick travels round the world photographing towns and cities and beauty spots. His shots are strung together, given music and a commentary, and that is all. They consist only of a collection of beautiful photographs and present nothing more than a surface impression of various places. There is no attempt at analysis or interpretation, no attempt to really show us the people or the characteristics of the countries he visits. One has only to compare these films with “Song of Ceylon ” to see the difference between a travelogue and a documentary film. “Song of Ceylon” interprets the customs, cultures, and peoples of Ceylon, giving the film a deep social and artistic significance. The mere photographing of reality does not constitute documentary. Otherwise we should have to describe newsreels as documentary. The newsreels record events as they happen. Documentary interprets events, re