Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER 45 POPULAR SCIENCE REELS IN THE USSR by Vsevolod Shevtsov '•ociENCE and Technics", a popular science Ofilm magazine, appears on the screen at the beginning of every month, and is run before the main picture in the programme. These films are put out by "Voentekhfilm" which maintains close contact with such scientific institutions of the capital as the Academy of Sciences and the Agricultural Academy, and with large laboratories, as well as with such organisations as the bureau of rationalisation proposals. All of these scientific establishments send in materials on their latest discoveries, inventions and innovations which are discussed at the studio with competent specialists, the aim being to decide whether the material can be made into a film. The series serves to popularise scientific knowledge. The films generally run for 10 to 12 minutes and they treat four subjects each. The object is to avoid any two subjects of the same kind, or to give any two subjects the same background. For instance, we are taken from a laboratory to a factory, one subject being biology, the other some interesting technical discovery. One of the latest films, for example, begins with a description of the construction work on the Moscow-Saratov gas main. We are taken over the layout and told of the origin of the subterranean gas deposits. The commentator then informs the audience as to the progress being made on the construction. Following this is a short description of the discovery of penicillin. It begins with a portrait of the English scientist, Fleming, and the commentator tells the interesting story of his work, resulting in the discovery of the medicinal properties of the fungus. We are then taken to the laboratory of the Soviet scientist, Zinaida Ermolyeva, who succeeded in extracting the drug from another type of fungus. This leads us up to shots taken in a Moscow hospital where penicillin is yielding fine results. The film goes on to outline the principles employed in a new method of metal working by means of electric charges. We see how in the shop of a Moscow plant the metal is worked to the required shape by applying electricity. Last in the series is the interesting story of how a mollusc and a tiny fish in the aquarium form an alliance in the struggle for existence. Others in the series demonstrate the latest achievements in the silk, steel, shipbuilding and plastics industries; and the work of physicists, chemists, zoologists and agronomists. The most recent are devoted to the work of Stalin prize winners. We see the experiments of Academician Kapitza in low temperatures and the liquefaction of air; Vavilov's work in luminescent substances; Professor Rosenberg's process of drying blood serum. The 67th issue of "Science and Technics" is to appear on the screen shortly, directed by Konstantin Kogtev, who put out the first film of this type 16 years ago. Kogtev who has considerable knowledge in many fields which he films with consummate skill, has mustered a group of competent producers, scenario writers, and cameramen, to work with him. CORRESPONDENCE Sir, No one interested in the possibilities of Visual Aids in Education would choose to quibble with your summing up of the memoranda on the subject issued by the "5 Group" and "25 Group", and of the P.E.P. Broadsheet "The Film in Schools" in your March/April issue. In the final paragraph, however, enthusiasm has got the better of facts. You state "This remarkable unanimity has been reached because ALL (the capitals are mine) teachers in Britain have decided that they and no one else shall command the film in education". This, Sir, is a gross overstatement of the facts, for not five per cent of British teachers have knowledge of, or interest in, visual media. The, nowadays, much maligned Film Institute has tried for years, with appallingly inadequate resources, to spread the gospel among teachers, but apart from isolated areas, very isolated, and lone enthusiasts among the teachers, the results have been negative. Chief Education Officers and L.E.A.s have not, on the whole, been accommodating. In some cases definitely hostile. Professional bodies have shown no positive interest. The result has been that those few teachers who have kept the faith have had to make do with the comparatively few but excellent films from G-B.I. and the brilliant documentaries (useful as "background" films) from the Gas Association and Petroleum Films Bureau. Theresources of the Central Film Library are large in numbers but not more than five per cent are real leaching films. That they have been so widel) used is due to (1) they were free, (2) there were few alternatives. If Visual Aids are to be employed to their full, and literally, ALL teachers made aware of their possibilities and familiar with their use, there must be established a nation-wide organisation with provincial centres or branches. No matter how this be done — officially, semi-officially, through L.E.A.s, or even through commercial channels, so long as it is done soon — and thoroughly. Until these branches are working and their staffs have penetrated to the lowest school levels I feel that "All teachers'" is an enthusiastic overstatement. Perhaps, Sir, you have been dazzled by the high sounding names of the bodies represented on "The Five" and "the Twenty-five". Would it be unfair to ask what practical knowledge of the use of visual media the delegates from these bodies had? r. s. miles [ While we agree with our correspondent that the scarcity of suitable films has hindered the recognition by mam teachers of the value of film in education we feel that he has perhaps missed the deeper significance of the combined effort of the memoranda. It he would look deeper and view the trend of opinion and action he would perhaps agree that these memoranda represemt complete agreement of an ideal by the teaching profession, an ideal which is even now being implemented by the Ministry of Education. — ED., D.N.L.] Halas & Batchelor MEMBERS OF THE FEDERATION OF DOCUMENTARY FILM UNITS CARTOONS D I AGRAMS MODELS INSTRUCTIONAL EDUCATIONAL PROPAGANDA 10a SOHO SQUARE W.l. GER 7681-2