Documentary News Letter (1940)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER MARCH 1940 11 healthy. Yes, poor man, you had better lie down until you are better. No more work until you are better; sick people cannot work. People who live in dirty houses are often sick. Make yourself comfortable, poor man; you will be there for some time. I should lie down if I were you. Are you sorry for this man?" Audience: "No! We are not sorry for him!" Commentator: "Why are you not sorry for him?" Audience: "Because he is a dirty man and lives in a dirty house." Commentator: "Now the cause of that weaver's sickness may be these old and useless water pots and calabashes which have been left lying about. They hold water, and mosquitoes breed in that water, and mosquitoes bring sickness . . . (etc.)" Centralised Plan rhere appears to be little doubt that such nethods, modified or altered as required for lifferent areas, could form a reliable basis for a liative cinema operating widely throughout the Iblonial Empire. A central organisation in X)ndon would be needed, preferably under the lirect control of the Colonial Office. This central lody would co-ordinate the work of all colonial Im-departments, facilitate the interchange of 1ms and ideas, and advise on technical and ducational methods. At first two types of film would be produced. Films like Machi Gaba would be produced on the spot by men who had previously received technical training in Britain. But films about Britain would be produced over here by men seconded from the colonies, who alone would be capable of making them correctly. This last point is vital. The simplest films about English life will be outside the native's comprehension unless they are carefully and closely related to his own limited experience. Experimental films of this type are, it is understood, already being made, and when completed should be a valuable guide to the validity of this method of creating a closer sympathy and understanding between colonial populations and ourselves. Economics Such film schemes have a special merit — that of economy. Only a moderate capital investment would be needed for 16 mm. apparatus, discrecorders, and a sufficient number of travelling cinemas. The^ annual production and distribution cost would be comparatively small, for the scheme calls for no full-size film or apparatus, and disc-recording is cheap and easy. It is to be hoped that because of — rather than in spite of — the war, steps will be taken to put some such scheme into operation. It would accord well with the increasingly enlightened attitude which has in recent years been so marked a feature of the Colonial Office. NEWS FROM CANADA The National Film Society of Canada has joined the Association of School Film Libraries (U.S.A.) as its official affiliate in Canada, and as a result the Association is expanding itself into an international organisation and extending its activities into wider fields. The National Film Society of Canada is similar to the Association in that it is a non-profit organisation with a membership of educational institutions cooperating to promote the educational and cultural uses of motion pictures. It receives financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation and enjoys the active endorsement of the Canadian Government. Four branches of the Film Society's film library are now in operation in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Toronto. These libraries supply educational films to schools, universities and study groups at a nominal cost. They are not established for the purposes of supplying the full needs of their districts but rather to encourage educational authorities to acquire libraries of their own. These units contain examples of both American and British films used for classroom and general educational purposes. Pursuing its policy of promoting better international relations through the use of the film, the National Film Society is arranging for a national distribution of the publicity and good-will films of foreign countries through the same service. ri ^ \m mum film mmmm mi A New Quarterly Edited by Jay Leyda 2 Dollars a Year Published by Kamin Publishers 15 West 56th Street New York NY urvey of Films at New York World's Fair by Richard Griffith tudy Guides to a new Series of Agricultural Films tudy Guides to the Human Relations Series of Short Films elected List of Thirty 16 mm. Films for Discussion Groups ^ for particulars and prices apply MERICAN FILM CENTER INC 45 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA NEW YORK NY olume One of School Film Library Catalogue for particulars and prices apply SSOCIATION OF SCHOOL FILM LIBRARIES 9 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA NEW YORK NY i