Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

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DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER JUNE 1942 A CANADIAN EXPERIMENT The author of this article is himself in charge of the non-theatrical scheme which he outlines. The work being done in Canada, amongst communities on the whole more scattered and diverse than in this country, is of special interest at a time when r own non-theatrical schemes are developing so rapidly. To bring the full story of Canada at war to isolated rural areas by means of films, has been the aim of an experiment in adult education fostered by the National Film Board of Canada. The object at the same time has been to stimulate community discussion regarding the objectives of the war. Concentration has been placed on motion pictures explaining Canada's part in industrial and agricultural production and in armaments. The project began in January 1942, and now in June, forty-three travelling theatres using 16 mm. portable projectors are in operation, under Film Board direction, from Comox on Vancouver Island, to the Atlantic coast fishing villages of Nova Scotia. Over two hundred and fifty thousand persons now attend these rural showings each month. The Canadian Council of Education for Citizenship has co-operated from the start. Funds have been given the Film Board by the Dominion Office of Public Information, and in addition, eight provincial Departments of Education and seven University Departments of Extension are assisting. The travelling theatres operate on circuits, each one of which reaches twenty communities monthly. Each village served knows that the free films will return on the same day each month. There are afternoon showings for children and evening ones for adults. Community participation has proved encouraging. Besides locallysponsored talks, there are many platform discussions and forums. Thus in Manitoba, where large settlements peopled by farmers of German and Ukrainian origin, are on the circuits, a field representative of the Film Board gives the following report on one form of discussion technique which has proved successful : "A group of five to seven local citizens consented to take the platform with me during a half-hour intermission in the middle of the film programme, for a round-table discussion. The intermission followed the picture Tools of War which provided an excellent jumping-off place for the discussion of issues connected with our war effort. The Canadian part of the picture impresses people with the amount Canada is already doing (many were very surprised) and the German part impresses them with the much greater amount that must yet be done. The general theme of the round-table discussions was "How We Can Increase our War Effort'. Criticism was not lacking but was usually quite intelligent, and the discussions always took a decidedly positive direction. Very constructive consideration of social issues came to the fore." The projectionists serve remote districts by train, by automobile, and sometimes during snow storms by sleigh. Where electric power is not available, portable generating units are used. Canadian films produced by the Film Board, By DONALD W. BUCHANAN along with a few items from Australia and Great Britain, make up the programmes. The theme of the opening presentation in January was Peoples of Canada. There then followed programmes about the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and Canadian armament production. In April, several films about the Navy and a new educational picture about the MacKenzie River district of the Canadian sub-Arctic were shown. A special teaching film is also added each month for schools. The programme beginning June 6th centres on the theme of the The Canadian Army. The following items are included: Fight for Liberty, Letter from Camp Borden, Wings of a Continent, ( anadian Landscape (in colour), and Hen Hop — a comic designed to promote the purchase of War Savings Certificates. In general, these film circuits have been restricted entirely to rural areas. Only here and there are villages or towns of as many as one thousand inhabitants included. The films therefore go to regions which do not usually see motion pictures, in fact one report from the Lac St. Jean district in Quebec states that over 90 per cent of the audience had never heard or seen a sound film before. The travelling 16 mm. theatres are distributed as follows: British Columbia 3, Alberta 8, Saskatchewan 8, Manitoba 5, Ontario 5, Quebec 7, New Brunswick 4, Prince Edward Island 1, Nova Scotia 2. The average attendance in February was over 1,500 a week on each circuit. In Alberta, especially fine progress has been made with the help of the Department of Extension of the provincial University. There, several supplementary circuits are being operated by farm organizations such as the United Grain Growers. Also in Saskatchewan the Wheat Pools are maintaining similar travelling theatres under this scheme. Most of the circuits in the Province of Quebecshow French language films, and here the Quebec government has provided the services of itinerant lecturers who accompany the film projectionists on their travels. The largest audiences are found in some of the parishes along the lower St. Lawrence. Communities of "New Canadian" settlers in western Canada, of Ukrainian, Scandinavian. German, and Polish origin, are reached by many of these showings. Here the response has been particularly worth while. A school principal from Angusville, Manitoba, writes: "Many of the people of this district, being but slightly conversant with the English language, are not readily reached through the medium of the spoken or printed word ; but in the case of visual presentation the appeal is instantaneous and the effect more positive. Thus, these films are advantageous in influencing the attitude to the war, in educating, and in provoking thought along lines not ordinarily pursued." FOR PROMPT SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE OF "EDITOLA" AND OTHER FILM-EDITING APPARATUS TELEPHONE: GER. 4633 PHOTOGRAPHIC ELECTRICAL Co., Ltd. 71 DEAN STREET, W.I. WE RECOMMEND THE CONVERSION OF ALL SUITABLE APPARATUS TO TAKE STANDARD " KODAK " POSITIVE FILM CENTRES WHICH ARE READILY AVAILABLE AND FACILITATE INTERCHANGEABILITY. ENQUIRIES INVITED. NEW APPARATUS SUPPLIED BY US IN FUTURE WILL NOT BE FITTED WITH METAL SERRATED CENTRES UNLESS SPECIALLY ORDERED.