International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1934)

392 EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY of the so-called news-reel. There is certainly no other means which is so live, so direct and so suggestive for giving the public the greatest possible knowledge of the events occurring all over the world. The choice of subjects constitutes one of the most important points in this field, and it is just this point which gives rise to the necessity of an international co-operation by means of an understanding between the various countries. It is undoubtedly advisable to form committees which could prepare a programme likely to interest the subjects of all nations, by means of a selection from each national production. An organization of this kind would be more easily formed in the broadcasting field, where National Councils for the preparation of programmes are becoming general. But surely it would be possible to form an organization of the same kind for the cinema, and so make exchanges more frequent and useful, eventually collaborating with an International Committee of the cinema ? b) Films of Interest to International Relations. — In addition to educational films properly so-called, and news-reels making known the work of the League of Nations, this body ought undoubtedly to take the greatest interest in making the cinema serve for a more wide-spread knowledge of great international problems. It has frequently been said that peace depends on education, and especially on the education of the masses. But that is a commonplace ; and if we really seriously wish to arrive at some form of realizing this end, we must discover means for spreading the ideas most suited for arousing interest and facilitating understanding of the most complex problems. Excellent results have already been obtained in this sector by the use of animated cartoons. It remains for technicians to say whether these forms can be still further developed, and whether they are suitable for insertion in the programmes of spectacles intended for the general public. The problem of the properly so-called " films to aid the understanding of various international problems ", could and should also be examined, including their evolution and the way in which they are presented today. The field of international, political, economic, financial and cultural relations is sufficiently vast to entitle those who are competent to decide the utility of an organization for encouraging productions of this kind. c) Reciprocal Knowledge among the Nations. — The technical notes annexed to the present Report deal with the problem of the cinema in connection with art in all its forms. This is not a new inquiry ; studies and numerous practical experiments have already been carried out for the purpose of making known, by the aid of the cinema, the greatest achievements of human genius and the artistic manifestations of popular art and tradition. But there are still other possibilities. The cinema is an incomparable method for making different peoples, and still more different civilizations known and understood. The production of films for this purpose should be encouraged. But in this case also there ought to be an organization for the exchange and selection of films, of the type indicated above. * * * Perhaps the same organizations and personages who might be called upon, internationally, to collaborate with the League of Nations on the question of the cinema, could interest themselves in the work of selection, co-ordination and production, both for newsreels and for those films dealing with international relations and intended to facilitate the reciprocal knowledge of nations. d) There remains the more general problem of the intellectual function of the cinema, of everything connected with the quality and artistic, intellectual and moral value of the films offered to the public. It certainly is not the case to dwell on the criticisms that have been only too widely spread. It