Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER MARCH 1942 CANADA'S CAMERA ON THE WAR CLOUDS By THEODORE STRAUSS Reprinted by courtesy of the New York Times at a time when the United States is massively assembling its energies for total war, and all the parts of that mountainous effort must of necessity be closely interrelated, it might be well to look northward briefly to Canada, where one weapon, as yet still wavering in the hands of nearly a dozen agencies in Washington, has been brought into full use on the home front. That weapon is the film. With the exception of Russia and Germany no nation has been so sensitive to the incalculable importance of films in readying the public first for the crucial demands of all-out war and secondly for the changed world of the peace to come. Perhaps much of the feeble confusion which now marks our use of fact fiim in creating an intensified public awareness to the issues in this conflict and in showing the average citizen what its successful prosecution will require of him is related to a lack of centralised authority in other quarters. But the fact is that the exploitation of films in Washington is still characterised by the overlapping efforts of numerous agencies with at best an only sporadically intelligible policy. We have many random efforts, scattered results; many agencies, faulty co-operation, many piecemeal plans, no policy. How Canada Does It Meanwhile, the framework for governmentsponsored films in Canada stands in direct contradiction to the footloose agencies in Washington. The Canadian film effort has reached its present momentum because of three salient facts. First, it has centralised all government film interests and production under a single board and placed the execution of the government's programme under the direct supervision of professional film-makers instead of departmental amateurs. Second, it has made integrated use of the existent facilities of private film industry and in those films intended for theatrical distribution it has successfully met professional standards of entertainment and dramatic interest. Third, it has a flexible but clearly articulated government policy which relates the work of all units and departments in a cohesive programme. Admittedly. Canada's film problems differ from our own and are considerably less complex, but the important thing is that they have been brought into a single pattern. This year the National Film Board of Canada will produce and release an approximate total of 150,000 feet of film in 150 items, of which forty or fifty will be of two reels or more. The cost will run at Si, 000 to an occasional $7,000 per reel. This output is not a vague blueprint ; it is based upon present production rates. It is divided between theatrical and non-theatrical films. Of these the former category includes the "Canada Carries On" series, films roughly comparable to the March of Time in technique, which alternate between those short subjects, internationally distributed, descrifing Canada's relation to the world war, and those for national distribution which describe Canada's war effort in more purely national terms. The theatrical releases also include weekly news clips and novelty trailers on government campaigns; one-reel musicals incorporating patriotic choruses, and a nc.vs review in French. Non-theatrical Audience The non-theatrical films are devised to bring specific information and exhortation to specificaudiences such as the Air Raid Precautions or the Women's Auxiliaries; audiences which are being intensively organised. This category comprises departmental films reporting on specific aspects of the war effort, films promoting tourism in Canada, films for the armed services, films prepared from overseas material showing what other countries are doing on matters of interest to Canada, and purely instructional films. All this production is under the direct control of the National Film Board, which was established several years ago according to a bill drawn up by John Grierson, the dynamic little Scot who is now its executive officer. Under his plan all the government departments are required by statute to bring statements of their film needs to the board, which guarantees against duplication of effort and fits the departmental films into an overall scheme of production. Furthermore, all government relations with the film industry are channelised through the board, which is acquainted with the industry's point of view. Men at the Helm The film board as now constituted includes two government Ministers, three senior civil servants and three members of the public selected for their interest in and knowledge of the film as an instrument of public policy. Mr. Grierson, the film commissioner, in whose hands the day-to-day initiative remains, makes a monthly accounting to the board of work in progress. Inasmuch as most of the films are paid for out of the budgets of departments requesting them, the budget of Mr. Grierson's department is hardly more than is necessary to maintain an office staff and a minimal number of technicians and laboratory workers. Whenever the spate of production exceeds the capacities of his own department, the film commissioner farms out the tasks to private producers under the direction of one of his own supervisors, or makes use of private laboratory facilities. The production staff— producers, directors and cameramen — now operating in seven units is maintained on a strictly temporary basis simply to act as a prod on personal initiative in the quarter where it counts most. As Mr. Grierson explains: "I have a staff of conscience-stricken men". He places a premium on young men. Several, such as Stuart Legg, who is now brilliantly editing the "Canada Carries On" series, are comparatively experienced men who have worked with Mr. Grierson during his years as a documentary producer for the British Government. The others are bright young men with "a head of steam" who are rapidly trained. No Handicaps Asked Up to the present this staff has done better than (Continued on page 39) "Living Movement" . . . CARLYLE defined Progress in just those two words! In paying due tribute to the aptness of the sage's definition the Kinematograph Weekly translates the spirit into action. Current events are reported for our readers in relation to the general advance, artistic and technical, by which progress in Kinematography is achieved. Keep abreast of progress in your craft — read the Wng WEEKLY 93 LONG ACRE LONDON W.C.2