Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

150 DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER NOTES OF THE MONTH The Cover Still on this issue is the Title Card from Chants Populairrs (No. 5) made by National Film Board of Canada International Scientific Film Association the congress held in Paris from October 2nd to the 9th, 1947, arranged jointly by the Institut de Cinematographic Scientifique and the Scientific Film Association, came to a very successful conclusion with a unanimous decision by the delegates to form forthwith The International Scientific Film Association. A provisional constitution for this new international organization, which will, of course, require subsequent ratification, was agreed by the delegates from 22 different countries. Under this provisional constitution the International Association will have a main meeting each year, but between these main meetings, the affairs of the Association will be managed by a council comprising five officers and seven other members. The Association will be concerned with all aspects of scientific film matters. As a start, however, to its work, it was agreed that invitations to join the Association should be sent to those countries who had not been represented at the Congress in Paris. In addition, the exchange of information through the office of the Association (which will be established in Paris at an early date) will forthwith commence on those scientific and technical films that are already available for exchange, on methods of appraisal and on Customs regulations on the exchange of films. Moreover, following the agreement that concurrently with each annual meeting of the International Association, which will be held in different countries by invitation, there should be held a screening of new scientific and technical films, the British delegation were asked to arrange for the 1948 Congress to held in Great Britain in October, 1948. Arrangements to this end are immediately being put in hand by the Scientific Film Association of Great Britain. Conference in Manchester the Education Committee of the Scientific Film Association is holding its annual Conference in Manchester (at the University) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 21st/23rd, in conjunction with the Manchester University, the City of Manchester Education Committee and the Manchester Scientific Film Society. The subject of this year's Conference will be the Visual Unit including films, film strips, wall charts and teachers' handbooks. Two Visual Units will be shown in their entirety, one dealing with water supply and the other with local studies. H. D. Hughes, MP, Chairman of the Committee for the Preparation and Production of Visual Aids, R. J. Thorn, Secretary of the National Committee for Visual Aids in Education, and Mrs Marcouse of the Ministry of Education will speak about what has been done to develop this teaching tool and will discuss plans for the future. Other speakers will include members of the production teams responsible for the visual units demonstrated. We hope that the Conference will be well attended. A report of it will be included in our next issue. Un-American the most un-American aspect of the present Congressional inquiry into un-American activities is the inquiry itself. The investigating committee seems determined to make nonsense of the very constitution of the United States. Set against the garish background of Hollywood, the investigation has recently taken on a nightmarish character. In a courtroom got up like a stage set, defending attorneys find themselves being forcibly ejected amid howls of 'throw that bum out'. Stars, with attendant trains of fans, fall over themselves in the rush to tar and feather the next man. But those who seem so anxious to pin the label of 'red' on to their colleagues are likely to find that they have stuck a far nastier label on themselves. To their credit a number of film people have come out strongly against this fantastic witch hunt. In fact, the committee may find that the glare of Hollywood publicity has shown up its activities in their true light. Good twopence worth concern for the nation's culture is, unfortunately, a rare quality among political organizations. The Communist Party is, therefore, to be congratulated on its timely Memorandum on the Film Industry. An analysis of the present control and tendencies of the medium, and of the 75 per cent tax and the alternatives that have been suggested is followed by practical proposals designed 'not only ... to reduce the present dollar tribute, but ... to readjust the industry along lines restoring its national independence and ensuring a better service to the community'. Selling at twopence, this document deserves the serious consideration of all who are interested in the national and cultural values of the cinema. We've had it too! further to the remark on Mr Rank which was published in a paper in the Russian sector of Berlin and reprinted by us in our last issue, we'd like to point out that Mr Rank's is not the only portion of the British film industry which comes under review. Here is a short extract from a digest of an article in Soviet Art. (August 15th.) 'The writer begins by saying that unlike the Soviet documentary cinema, neither the American nor the English documentary cinema has ever been interested in reflecting on the screen the fundamental principles of reality, though both have attained a certain skill in the reproduction of events. The Anglo-American documentary cinema sets itself a quite different task — to stupefy the spectator with lies. For this purpose it produces, for instance, pseudo-ethographical films with the stamp of intentional thoughtlessness upon them, showing a 'colonial paradise', these films aim to falsify reality in the most shameless way. while colonial 'feature' films, novels and essays contain the same ideology. Primitive propaganda films on the lines of film posters are also produced. Finally, there are films of an openly advertising character. No wonder that one of the British film firms engaged in the production of documentary films is subsidized by a gas company!'