International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1934)

HYGIENE AND SOCIAL SAFEGUARDS 171 means of the cinema for certain classes of individuals. There is however a vast work of education on hygienic and social lines to be carried out for the benefit of all adults by means of properly prepared pictures. Especially in what concerns the hygiene of the family, woman, and the future of the race, such projections could prove most useful. The gravest problems of individual and social hygiene could in this way be tackled from time to time. For example, the advisability of young people about to marry having themselves examined by a doctor before marriage could be pointed out so as to be certain that no contagious or hereditary disease might endanger the health of the wife or husband or the innocent children who may come, menacing, should the peril mature, the well being of the entire family. An attempt of the kind was made in 1925 by the late regretted Professor Levi at the First National Congress for the Anti-Tuberculosis Campaign of Naples. Dr Levi clearly and ably illustrated on this occasion the causes, effects and necessary defences against typical scourges of humanity, projecting a motion picture entitled " The Gift of Life ", which had been given him by the American Social Hygiene Association. Educating the Specialized Personel of Relief Organizations. — Good results could be obtained through the use of the film in the case of the specialized staffs of institutions taking care of pregnant wemen, mothers and infants. There will be little difficulty here in attracting and holding the spectators' attention and the pictures can be considered as a mere pedagogic instrument. In this instance we could utilize the films prepared for the education and instruction of the mothers, but the ideal would be to have specific technical pictures, illustrating the various forms of assistance and medical aid to mothers and infants. " We hold that the use of the cinema has a notable importance for the propaganda of infant hygiene. More than once I have been able to observe the great interest and profit of such projections. We believe that it would be desirable to prepare a series of films illustrating the principle sides of child rearing in an easy, attractive and persuasive manner for use in schools or at lectures . (0. N. M. I. Federation, of Pisa). Apart from medical assistance institutions, such pictures could be utilized for the courses of childrearing run along the lines of those organized by the ONMI in agreement with the National Bali 11a Association. Practical Considerations. — We have so far, it need hardly be said, been dealing with the matter in connection with the content, and as regards hygienic social aims desirable in the interest of the strengthening of the race. As to the manner and place for the projecttion of such films, it will suffice to point out that, in order to obtain satisfactory results, we should make a larger use of indirect than direct means. In general, it may be claimed that better results are obtainable by including pathetic or sentimental scenes in an ordinary picture by than inflicting on a variously composed mixed public films, the educational objects of which are immediately patent. Care must be taken when making projections before the public in large cinema halls not to attempt too direct an appeal but to approach the matter by intriguing and stimulating the interest through sentimental and spiritual appeals rather than violent films or purely technical pictures. The attraction of the cinema can be usefully taken advantage of for the ends of hygienic education and propaganda, especially if we avoid artificial rhetoric such as might discredit the idea and offend the instinctive good sense and practical spirit of our people ". (0. N. M. I. Federation, of Mantua). Certainly, this kind of picture can and must have its value if projected before a specialized public The experiment which the ONMI has started in workshops is not without its importance in this respect. Nor is there any reason why special travelling cinemas should not make occasional projections in country districts or in workmen's sections of towns where the spectator's state of mind differs somewhat from that of the ordinary cinema hall public. Films suited to the mentality of infants and youths might also be projected in the schools. In cases like these, prudence must be used, however, and it should always be borne in mind that nothing educates better than that which appeals to the mind, the fancy and the heart. Negative Aspect of the Question. — In order to obtain good results in moral, hygienic and demographic education, it is not enough, as we have said, to concern oneself with what it is advisable to project, but it is also necessary to take into consideration what is bad and unadvisable to project, especially before certain classes of persons. The problem of the limits of cinema censorship is certainly not a new one, but this is not the place to go into it in all its delicate aspects which include