International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1931)

-388 Director, M. Adalbert Agostai, at that time Chairman of the « Chamber of Hungarian Teachers ». In the same year the Budapest Town Council, in order to fix the exact attributes of the new institution, convened a conference of all government organs concerned. This conference unreservedly recognised the educational value of the cinema and the need of using films not only in teaching but in public cinemas as an instrument of popular culture. A Committee was appointed to lay down a policy of film production, and this Committee, made up of representatives of all grades of school, from kindergarten to university, was of opinion that films, both as regards scenarios and sub-titles, should be made to conform closely to the school curriculum. For this purpose it was decided that the films dealing with each subject should be varied in such a way as to meet the requirements of the different types of school : elementary, continuation, vocational, secondary, etc. In other words, they were to be in the nature of summaries or outlines, to be supplemented or filled in later by more detailed demonstrational reels. Accordingly, the Committee in question decided that the « Pedagogiai Filmgyar » should start by making recapitulatory films for the use of elementary schools, that is to say, simple films furnishing material for exercises in composition, and geographical films. These were later to be supplemented by more detailed films for use in secondary schools. On these foundations the « Pedagogiai Filmgyar » in 1913 began producing instructional films regularly and systematically. Another of its duties was to organise cinema shows in Budapest schools, and to-day it has a special organ for the discharge of this function. The Town Council of Budapest made film-teaching obligatory in all schools; it also decided that industrial workers and employees should be guaranted free admission to cinema shows of a vocational nature. By the time the war broke out the « Pedagogiai Filmgyar » had made about 19000 feet of negative and more than 90,000 feet of positive, as well as 2000 negative and 3000 positive lantern slides. The work was completely suspended during the war, but resumed in 1922; during the school year 1923-1924 the « Pedagogiai Filmgyar » arranged for the largest possible number of projections in elementary and continuation schools. To-day each school gives five or six cycles of films annually; the programmes of the 1st and 2nd elementary forms differ from those of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th forms, and it is proposed to lay down a different programme for the 3rd and 4th forms on the one hand, and for the 5th and 6th on the other. In the continuation schools separate programmes will also be arranged for girls and boys. The programmes for vocational schools are again different from Lthose of secondary institutions. Before being sent out to the schools, each cinema programme is submitted for the approval of representatives of the teaching profession and the « Pedagogiai Filmyar » has descriptions printed for distribution to the pupils before projection so that they can prepare the lesson. The « Pedagogiai Filmgyar » has, little by little, extended its activities to the manufacture of apparatus for fixed and cinema projections in schools; in particular, it makes a film projector called the «Hunnia», which has a device whereby the projection can be stopped without any danger of fire whenever the teacher wants to give a lengthy explanation of certain passages. Many school halls are equipped with apparatus manufactured by the « Pedagogiai Filmgyar ». The Company has huge premises for the manufacture of its films and apparatus and for its administrative work; its studio is perfectly up-to-date and attached to it are a small and large experimental theatre. One section is specially engaged in making trick-films and animated drawings for demonstrations in mathematics, science and chemistry. The establishment also comprises a fine hall capable of holding thousands of people and used in the summer for ordinary public performances. In its early days the « Pedagogiai Filmgyar », in deference to the rules of the Committee already referred to, confined itself