Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

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104 DOC I MhNTARY FILM NEWS YJ*f*^ PICTORIAL COMPOSITION LAY-OUT COLOUR ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS TELLING A STORY WITH CLARITY IN CARTOONS DRAWN BY MM k faWloi{ 10 A SOHO SQUARE GER 7681-2 D for Denmark Documentary in Denmark 1940-48 is the title of an impressive catalogue just published by the Danish Central Film Library in English. One hundred films about Danish life are listed against the changing background of the last eight yeacs of war, occupation, liberation and peace. Attractively presented with plenty of stills as well as informative detail, the catalogue is well worth looking at. In an introduction Arthur Elton has paid tribute to the achievements of the movement which made these films possible. The effective growth of the Danish documentary group dates from 1940 and the German invasion. Over the subsequent years it did a great deal to keep alive the country's traditions and way of living. At the end of the war, the movement emerged, confident and skilled. It had produced many films it could be proud of, and it had made its own particular contribution to documentary film-making. It had brought in wit and humour and a warm sense of life. The pity is that relatively so few of these films have been made available in Britain, apart from festival performances. This is one of the directions in which this catalogue should be of positive value. A further publication. Motion Pictures in Denmark by Ebbe Neergaard, the director of the Danish Central Film Library, has also just appeared in English. It gives a clear and readable picture of the Danish cinema business with particular reference to the production and exhibition of documentary films. All commercial exhibition of films is regulated by a Cinema Act of 1938. Among its various provisions, there is one which might well produce alarm and confusion in the ranks of British exhibitors if it were applied in this country. 'The licensee (the manager) shall attend to the management of the picture theatre in person and have the artistic responsibility for the same. In the choice of films the licensee shall take care that such films as are exhibited are from a cultural and artistic point of view the most valuable. He shall not be prevented by any agreement from deciding freely and independently on the repertoire of the theatre and the rest of its management.' As a result of this Act there are no foreignowned cinemas in Denmark and no circuits. In addition it lays down that a part of e\er> cinema performance can be reserved for the showing of cultural and educational value. These films are distributed to cinemas free by the Central Film Library. In this way some fifteen to twenty documentary films get cinema distribution each year. Production finance is provided from a Film Fund which is supported by a levy on the net profits of the cinemas. Neergaard's pamphlet contains a lot of information of this kind which is well worth study and comparison. In fact, the pamphlet and the catalogue, together with the September issue of the Dansk Filmforbund Bulletin which is an international number published in English, give an up-to-date and encouraging picture of the state of documentary in Denmark. Documentary in Denmark 1940-48, published by Statens Filmcentral. Copenhagen. 1948 Price 5s. Motion Pictures in Denmark, by Ebbe Neergaard, published by Statens Filmcentral. Copenhagen, 1948. Dansk Filmforbund Bulletin, special international issue, Vol. 2. No. 10. September 1948 The introduction to Documentary in Denmark was printed in the October 1947 issue of DNL. Copies of this catalogue and of Danik Filmforbund Bulletin are on sale at Filn Centre, prices 5s. and Is. respectively. ISFA Congress (Continued from page 98) a discussion meeting between producers of scientific films, at which John Grierson and Denis Forman introduced to their foreign colleagues the older and the rising generations of scientific film-makers in Britain. The Royal Microscopical Society invited delegates to a reception at which they and some hundreds of British microscopists saw a programme of films by Percy Smith. Dr R. G. Canti. and contemporary specialists, introduced by Dr Arthur Hughes. As a pendant to the Congress, the Sciences Committee of SFA organized on October 12 a whole day conference on the film in scientific research, presided over by Sir Robert Watson-Watt. The Congress ended with a reception to delegates, given 1\\ the British Council. This, breathlesslj and inadequately, is the stop-press re time of the work of the secom Internationa] Scientific Film Congress. Twenn five countries and UNESCO accepted the invitation to be present. Next year, the International Association will meet in Brussels, to take stock of what was set in train at the IsMs London Coneress Mr John Maddison was elected a VicePresident of the ISFA for the coming year. The other Vice-President isClifford Burmeston of the National Library of Australia. The President is Jean Korngold of Poland, the Hon Secretary, Jean Painleve of France, and the Hon Treasurer, Luc Haesaerts of Belgium.