Documentary News Letter (1940)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER MAY 1940 DOCUMENTARY IN THE UNITED STATES By MARY LOSEY, Secretary of the U.S. Association of Documentary Film Producers. OR NEARLY ten ycars, students, theoreticians, iisiting lecturers and critics have argued the [leaning, purpose, and virtue of an American jocumentary movement ; but until 1936 the argujient revolved largely around an abstraction, ■hen Pare Lorentz's first production The Plow 'hat Broke the Plains made its embattled way ito the nation's theatres. Coincidentally, indejendent groups such as Frontier Films (a pioneer |i the American movement), American Documentary Films, Inc., U.S. Film Service, Con;mporary Historians were at work. During this ime period the March of Time helped pave the ay by breaking into major chain distribution jid proving that the cinema audience, or some irge part of it, could bear to think as well as to b "entertained". But there was a long road to travel before it puld honestly be said that such a thing as a pcumentary film movement existed in America. t best there were documentary film groups, orking for the most part in isolation, and too jsy fighting their individual battles for finance id distribution to find time to attempt a )oling of their resources. I Struggling along in this relatively chaotic shion, they managed by the spring of 1939 to be jle to boast a fairly proud crop of documenries. Then through the pressure of an outside ctor (the New York World's Fair) people and oups whose individual contributions went to ake up the representation of the American |)cumentary film found themselves almost initably drawn together. The example of cohesion the British documentary movement acted as a werful catalytic agent to the process of comhation. The Little Theatre at the World's Fair pght assistance in organising its programme ir dramatising the principal ideas of the exhibit I housing, education, health, community planiig, and welfare. The prompt shipment of a full It of films by British Film Centre gave us an petus forwhich we must remain grateful. A call is issued to a meeting, the primary purpose of lich was to secure American films for the Ittle Theatre. :From this first meeting emerged the Associa in of Documentary Film Producers, which jw includes, with the conspicuous exception of jre Lorentz, all the producers of documentary America today; the repatriated Robert iherty, Joris Ivens and his two Dutch col gues, John Ferno and Helen Van Dongen, ;rbert Kline and his two Czech colleagues, sxander Hackenschmeid and Hans Burger. is Bunuel from Spain is there, and several ugee German producers; and all those who vt been diligently ploughing the American soil ■ a rich crop, Paul Strand, Ralph Steiner, and Hard Van Dyke. Obviously the first duty of this group, which ■^ numbers sixty full members, was to secure recognition and prestige for its films, not singly and as isolated artistic and social curios, but as a body representing a specific point of view toward the film in society. Its first act was therefore to secure intensive exhibition and publicity of its films at the Fair. This effort culminated, in the last days of the Fair, in a special week of documentary programmes to which John Grierson added his articulate and personal blessing. The second public appearance of the Association was represented by the series of twelve programmes prepared for, and presented in collaboration, with the Museum of Modern Art. But there is more than the job of publicisihg films already made or in the making. There remains the task of co-ordination in planning, financing, and distributing. Toward this end, a working agreement between producers and the American Film Centre has been reached which provides clearance for ail films, projected or shooting, in which mutual assistance can be given. This agreement operates through a joint committee of the two organisations which meets every two weeks and discusses all projects on the docket. In effect this agreement is forming the basis for a fair trade practice code which will eliminate the waste motion, the competition, and the frequent default to commercial producers which has prevailed in the past. It will also help to bring about the planned production programmes which have given the British movement continuity and strength. For example, this month there are two films related to the problem of nutrition in production by members of the Association. Another of the "Getting Your Money's Worth" series is being made by Julian RofTman under the supervision of Consumer's Union, the subject being Dieting and Food Fads. John Ferno has just completed And So They Live, relating the food problem of Kentucky hill folk to their archaic education. At the same time American Film Centre has been organizing a national nutrition committee to assist, with research and prestige, the promotion of these films and the production of more in the same field. This committee has met once and already outlined a project in scope and purpose not unlike the British Enough to Eat. It is planned for sponsorship by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Unfortunately the Association has been unable to secure financial support for its activities other than members' dues, which are minimal, so it does not publish a paper; but this lack is made up through the new magazine Films and the American Film Centre News. It does, however, hold weekly meetings at which many of the most urgent problems of its members are discussed and acted upon. Most pressing is the organisation of distribution, particularly nontheatrical, and the many distributor members of the group lend their assistance here. A stockshot library is being organised to preserve the unused footage of the members and make it available to new productions. A production-costs survey for the East Coast has been made and distributed, saving the less experienced members much time and trouble. Technical discussions occur at least once every two weeks in which the older and more experienced members pass on to the novices some of their hard learned lessons. New productions are screened and analysed. This year a new market is opening to us. The labour unions have begun to recognise the tremendous possibilities of films as education and propaganda. Once they become fully aware, an organised, paying audience of 12,000,000 people is open to us. Frontier Films has just completed a film for the United Automobile Workers which points the way to a whole series of possible union-sponsored films. The Sloan Foundation film project is plunging head first into economic themes, and already has two to show : the film mentioned above on Kentucky (this is John Ferno's first American job and it marks him for a top place among the American producers) ; and Willard Van Dyke's on a similar theme. Van Dyke is now finishing a film on technological unemployment for the same producers. Ivens' rural electrification picture. Power and the Land, awaits commentary by Lorentz. The Civil Liberties' picture by Frontier, so long put off by lack of funds, is nearly finished, and if the rushes can serve as samples, it will have been worth waiting for. The globe-trotting contingent is still in vigorous fettle. Irving Jacoby is in Canada now shooting a picture for Stuart Legg on the Canadian national sport — ice hockey. Kline's Lights Out in Europe opens in April at the Little Carnegie Theatre, and then he will be off to Mexico for another. Julian Bryan will set off for South America early this summer. Late in March the Senate Appropriations Committee refused once more to grant a budget to the U.S. Film Service. Whether this will mean the demise of the Lorentz unit it is too early to say; but it is ardently to be hoped not. Three films are shot, two of them nearly ready to score : Ecce Homo and Power and the Land. Flaherty's material of American farm country is in the cutting room. There is much more in the realm of promises but none of the documentary group is yet enough of an optimist to publish his ardent hopes. It is enough to know that many of them are working and that they are working together. More than ten films are in production and this time they will not be born in a vacuum. They will have predecessors and successors. They will be made to the measure of the audiences that are eager for them. And in a few years they will be the American Documentary Film Movement.