The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

January, 1944 Page 23 The Film and Interndtional Understanding The Film in New China in a New World DR. JOHN E. DUGAN, Editor Haddon Heights, New Jersey, Schools masess. THE motion picture is destined to play an important part in the rehabilitation of China and in her position in the newpost-war world, according to T. Y. Lo, president of the China Motion Picture Corporation of Chungking. "When this war is over, China's 450 millions of people will require a knowledge of modern science with the view of opening up the country's unlimited natural resources and utilizing her potential manpower," Mr. Lo said, "and the motion picture, with its efficiency and the ease and speed with which it serves the masses, will play no insignificant role in this enlightenment and education." Mr. Lo p(jinted out that in China toda)', in spite of bombings and lack of equipment, production of motion pictures, both for entertainment and informative purposes, is being maintained by Chinese directors, actors and technicians. "We are combating almost insurmountable obstacles in bringing these movies to our people, so important do we consider them. Because there are at present only 112 theatres in Free China, and some of the.se cannot be kept going because of bombings, the Chinese government and its agencies operate mobile cinema units so that films can be shown to the soldiers and the people. These mobile units travel from city to city and village to village : to the battle front, and even to the rear of the Japanese lines, with their programs of shorts, features and documentaries. Some of the units that go into the remote regions carry a ])rogram for one year. This requires careful planning of production in advance and astute selections of subjects. "While the Chinese motion picture industry is working heroically now to kee]) up the flow of pictures, it is much concerned with the future use of films in the reconstruction period after the war. An ambitious jirogram of visual education has been outlined. Its main purpo.ses include the training of thousands of technicians for reconstruction work ; imparting general scientific knowledge to the people so they may be able to take full advantage of modern inventions and improvements related to a progressive life ; to let the people know the plans for reconstruction so they Kodachrome Seriets on European Culture Anticipating the increasing interest in an understanding of central Europe, the Society for Visual Education has issued a list of 217 selected Kodachromes for use in teaching the culture and languages of central Europe. 46 of the Kodachromes deal with Yugoslavia, mysterious and intriguing tinder box of the Balkans. As an international medium of education the motion picture has a wider appeal than literature, a more emotional appeal than radio, and provides the easiest and speediest method of instructing the -T. Y. Lo will develop a sense of individual responsibility ; to acquaint the 450 millions of people with the political, economic, cultural and social affairs of the rest of the world ; and to educate the people in a practical way toward creating a better world in which their responsibility is to cooperate with others. "This is a large order, but we, in China, believe that the power of the motion picture cannot be over-estimated. The motion picture is of more absorbing interest to the young than to the old, and since it will be the young people of today who will make the world of tomorrow, films will be a great factor in shaping the future.'' Philadelphia Museum of Art Film Programs On International Understanding "This Is Your World," a free film program series revealing the culture and character of the peoples of other nations, is being presented during the present season at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The series presents a diiTerent program each week, and each program is devoted to a different nation or area. Each weekly program is presented on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 and 3 p. m. Typical of the programs ])resented are a Chinese program which included the films Out of a Chinese Painting Brush and China's 400 Million, and a Slovak program presenting the Slovak film classic Janosik. The programs were planned with the cooperation of Brandon Films Inc.. distributors of the films. They include full length and short films on Belgium, China, Czechoslovakia, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, India, Germany, Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Holland, Soviet Russia. Spain, and the United States. Canada Pools Projection Resources To facilitate the use of films by organizations in Canada, projector pools have been set up in several large centers. They are under the jurisdiction of volunteer film officers who undertake to coordinate arrangements for film showings in their communities. They will refer requests for films to the most convenient library, arrange for the loan of a projector, and if necessary supply a qualified volunteer projectionist. It is the hope of the National Film Board to see projector pools established in every town where sound projectors are available and where there is a demand for film service. The Board oflfers its services to arrange details of such a service at the request of any community which possesses at least one sound projector available for free loan.