Farmers Criticise Wheat Growing Film

Chronicle (Levin), 20 July 1948, Page 7

Farmers Criticise Wheat Growing Film

Thc wilhdrawal oi the Government puiiiicity film on wheat growing in New Zealand is to be requosted by Federatcd: Farmers as a result of a discuKsion at' a meeting of the Wellington Central provHicial executive of the organisntion held al Marton yesterday. * Mr.'.i. D. [Simpson, a meinber of the DoUftHjon 'Couiu'iP'of tlie agricultural produce soction, referred to the film wliicli was made' at tlie Government studios aud described it as harmful propaganda. 'J'lie president (Mr. F. C. Jurgens j stqt ed that La , had seep the .filut , a,t n theatre in Wellington. It was un adulterated propaganda aimed at trying to educate .the [leople in the cities that the farmers wero letting the eouutry down. The Jihu depicts scenes of wheat beiug destroyed while the people oi India and Cliina are s.tarviug. Mr. [Simpson added that a inember ofj I'nited Wheat Growers was asked to prepare a seri'pt for the film after lie had agreed to allow shots of wheat harvesting to be taken on liis property in tlie iSouth Lsland. Ile prejiared the seript and was invited to eome to WeJ; lington witli otliers and found that liis seript was not aceeptable. After a eonl'erenee wliicli lasted eight liours a scri])t was prepared and used and this ineludcd a sentence or two, reiiioved from its context, of tlie seript prepared by the Lnited Wheat Growers' repre sentative. Ni r. fSiinpson qucsiioned whether the iilm would be shown in the couutrv. Jt was agreed after further discussion to writo to Federated Farmers pointing out that the iilm was Jikeh to cause a great deal of liarm and that it should be witlidrawn.