NEW ZEALAND FILMS

Hokitika Guardian, 29 December 1931, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND FILMS

NEW EMPIRE PROPAGANDA DRIVE. LONDON. .. New Zealand sheep farms auu creameries are oeing Diougiit right into th fa Jtngiisn class-room, ror tne first time scn'ool'-clindien all over Britain will He able to see now New Zealanuers wori. and live on tne other side of the world. An Empire film library has been established by' the Empire Marketing Board and the first catalogue has jusr been the films which are available, lreej to schoois up and down the country. Requests for loans are coming in irom all parts of the country. About oia; sciioois are already in .touch with the Board and there are piobably as many -more- in possession ot projectors. These films have been obtained from the publicity organisations of the overseas Governments. There are only eight dealing with New Zealand, and more are badly wanted. More Films Wanted. The New Zealand section of the catalogue lists turns on lorestSj wooij meat, iiuiiey and butter.. There is one on nun.bering in a Kauri iorest ; one of nle oh a sheep station, and one of the history or honey ironi the luve to London. Utners show how New Zealand cheese and butter are made,

‘•The present library is only a beginning,’' 1 was told at, the Board s fiun unit in Oxford Street, London, Where a! staff- of enthusiastic young men is busy cutting and editing films of Empire scenes famous and obscure, from' bt. James’ Park in London tu bauxite mines in British Guiana, and of every activity Irani collecting leathers for - eiderdowns to cutting trees in New Zealand. 1 ‘‘We want more material.. The demand is increasing steadily, ' the film Officer said. “Schools are acquiring projectors as fast- as they can and teachers are unanimously in favour-of the film as,a. real aid to history and geography lessens; They are used, too, as separate entertainments.” ‘ Million . Children See Films. • About one million youngsters, L was, assured, have,! visited the imperial inst.tute cinema, where the Empire Markefing Board runs a daily performance m these Empire films. Altogether over two, million people have been admitted to this cinema. By these means New Zealand is coining alive to the rising generation in.a new way. New Zealand is . ceasing to mean just two long red islands on the right band side of the map; she is becoming a reality, filled with real hardworking men and women. The Director of these films is Mr «R>lm Grierson, a young Scot who started life as a, lecturer in psychology, Went on to journalism in the United States, lived in Hollywood, and has already made his mark as one of the leading British film producers. He Was tfee first to learn from Russian technique,. and “Drifters, ” a film of Hie North Sea fisheries, made, a big hit with the critics and was shown in America, ' Cranes and Cargoes. He is busy on films of British industry and production which will, he hopes be shown ‘ all round the Empire. One on the Port of London is nearly ready. It shows the romance of the greatest .port ,in the world, the arrival of cargoes from the Arctic and the indies, and the disgorging of produce from every country in the Empire. The “star” is the famous Pool of London, where masts grow as thick as bamboos and the sky is criss-crossed with mighty cranes. Another film to follow is on British industry. It will show furnaces and factories of the industrial areas and the craftsmanship of the potter and the lens-grinder which survives the great machines. Besides these there are pictures of the Empire’s animals—- “ People of the Sea,'” a film of fishes, and “Birds of the Air,” a. glimpse of Empire birds. Have just been finished —and one of how children play in many different countries. ... Research on the Screen^ Short research films are also on the way, and these are likely to be of particular interest to formers overseas. Another piece of pioneer work is the making of “poster” films—short pictures advertising certain Empire products which can he shown on automatic daylight projectors at exhibitions, on railway platforms, and on other occasions. A “Poster” film dealing with New Zealand blitter has been made. These activities are olny a beginning. But they are the lindens of a central film bureau for the distribution of Empire propaganda which mav one day grow out of the Empire Marketing Board’s film unit.