Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

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16 DOCUMENTARY FILM NEWS the film overseas Graduation from Newsreel by James Harris the New Zealand National Film Unit, which came into being to hold the mirror to New Zealand, has now to consider the projection or New Zealand before the world. Involved in this is a change in approach to subjects and a change in style. Owing to local circumstances the change is broadly one to Documentary from newsreel. Until six years ago few things were rarer upon the screens of New Zealand than scenes of New Zealand life. The citizen of a country thus absent from view, or seen only through foreign eyes and lenses, is apt to think his country has something lacking. Thus films of New Zealand, when they did begin to appear in quantity, not only provided a medium through which to pass wartime information to the public, but also began to fill a blank area in the outlook of the local picture-goer. The 1941 event was the setting up of the New Zealand National Film Unit, based upon the existing Government Film Studios which had made films of scenery for the Tourist Department. The Unit's birth followed a report to the Government made by John Grierson. It's wartime raison d'etre was wartime publicity, including internal national publicity, the building of national self-confidence. The backbone of its production programme for all of its six years of development has been the newsreel NZ Weekly Review. The Government concentrated their film efforts upon newsreel for the very simple reason that there being no commercial newsreel in New Zealand this field was the easiest one in which to get wide and regular distribution. In technique however Weekly Review has averaged somewhere between newsreel and documentary, in the manner of a cine-magazine. At the present time Weekly Review averages about 800 ft per issue, goes out on a 17-print distribution and occupies the whole time of six or eight of the production staff. The typical reel contains three subjects, probably one sporting or topical, one of farming or country interest, and one industrial or scientific. Every few weeks though the whole reel goes to one subject, and these one-subject Weekly Reviews are in* fact short documentaries made at a newsreel rate of production. The problem before the Unit at the present time is to make instructional films for local use, and documentaries for overseas, with the same speed and efficiency that it has developed in the handling of its regular weekly release. Though the NZNFU staff have experience in documentary, nevertheless for any of them to turn from the newsreel to other types of work always proves to be difficult, the difficulty lying not so much in doing the new thing well as in doing it with the old efficiency, in keeping up the speed that went into newsreel-making to a weekly deadline when not working to a deadline at all. New Zealand films like all films need to beofgood quality or they fail in their purpose, but they also need to be economically made, for many films are required and stall" and gear limited. A New Zealand National Film Unit Conference In addition to the weekly newsreel release many of the short newsreel items have been collected into long 16 mm reels to give a general picture of the life and the country, and issued to libraries under the general title of New Zealand Diary. Demands from London for 16 mm silent films are also being met. The main physical asset of the NZNFU is the Government Film Studio at Miramar, just over the hill from Wellington Heads and about six miles by road from the city. The studio, a singlestory brick building, contains a 60 ft by 80 ft sound-stage, offices, theatre, 35 mm and 16 mm laboratories, cutting-rooms, workshops, vaults and garage. Thus everything from scripting and camera-repairs to dispatching the finished prints is done in the one building. Equipment includes a pair of Mitchell cameras for double-system sound shooting, single-system sound camera for newsreel work, a good assortment of modern lighting gear and a couple of portable generators. When the Unit first moved in only rack-and-tank development was available for negative, but now all development is by machine. Up till now A'Z Weekly Review has been ali capital things to the NZNFU: it has been backbone, mainspring, heart, soul and bread-andbutter. It was this weekly reel that secured wide theatrical distribution for the Unit's camerawork, and it was the six years of working to a weekly deadline that kept the Unit moving toe fast to get into the rut of 'regular channels' If the Government newsreel has to be dropped (as may happen, since distribution to a public o1' under two million is a difficult thing to make pay) then its loss will be regretted by New Zealand audiences, and by that small but important part of its audience, the troops in Japan Whether the weekly reel is retained or whether i: goes, the experience of turning it out has buik up at Miramar a self-contained Film Unit which should be able to turn with confidence to an> oew tasks which the Dominion may require it to perform. OVERSEAS NEWS UNESCO in 1948 The allocation of almost one million dollars for Mass Communications is the largest single item in UNESCO budget for 1948. It is to be spent on the following main projects. An International Ideas Bureau will employ creative artists and writers to prepare stories of world co-operation and achievement. This material will be used to promote the production of articles, books, broadcast programmes, documentary and feature films by member countries. In the field of radio UNESCO will prepare special programme material, and will set up flying squads of radio experts to maintain contact between UNESCO and the national systems. A World University oi~ the Air will provide radio programmes putting leading personalities in education, sciences and the arts on the air. The Survey of Press, Radio and Film Needs will be extended to the Far East, Latin America and South Asia. Loans, barter schemes and exchange of technicians are among the remedies proposed to meet the needs of countries found to be lacking essential Pres^. radio and film resources. The main emphasis in 1948 will be on produc-i tion. UNESCO'S Film Section has already! drawn up a programme of 48 films which Hi member countries are expected to include id their current production programmes. The newbudget allocations are designed to stimulate further production in all fields of mass con>j munication. The Price of Peace I M-SCO has been criticized lately in one or two' British journals for failing in the past year to get to ;-;rips with the problems of world education and understanding. In a recent broadcast J. B| Cont. foot col. 1 next pai.t