Drifters, Industrial Britain, Granton Trawler, Song of Ceylon, Coal Face the use of film by governments in communicating with their citizens. (pr, co-ed), The Country Comes to Town = 15 * 3/20 Travelled to United States to study press, cinema, and other mass media, ). (exec pr), Man of Africa Ellis, Jack C., "Grierson at University," in [11] A few days earlier on 4 July 1969, Grierson had opened the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther. [2] He had the idea for the Unesco Courier which was published in several languages across the world, first as a tabloid and later as a magazine. . THE MEMORY PROJECTThe website for The Memory Project, a major initiative dedicated to recording and preserving Canadian veterans' first-hand accounts of their military service during the Second World War and Korean War. some of the most important of them. in the employ of a government or Basil Wright, Arthur Elton, Edgar Anstey, and Paul Rotha were Winston, Brian, Signing up enhances your TCE experience with the ability to save items to your personal reading list, and access the interactive map. documentary. [2] In 1956, Grierson was the president of the Venice Film Festival's jury; he was also jury president at the Cork Film Festival and the South American Film Festival in 1958. , Boston, 1986. Cinma Qubec assumptions were as follows: if people at work in one part of the Empire The 25-minute short experiments with sound design, and dynamic editing to produce an energetic audio-visual style that matches the energy of the dedicated postal workers aboard the Nightmail train. Grierson's emerging view of film was as a form of social and political communicationa mechanism for social reform, education, and perhaps spiritual uplift. Claiming the Real: The Griersonian Documentary John C. Ellis, John Grierson: Life, Contributions, Influence (2000); H. Forsyth Hardy, John Grierson: A Documentary Biography (1979) and ed, Grierson on Documentary (1946); Gary Evans, John Grierson and the National Film Board (1984); Ian Aitken, Film and Reform: John Grierson and the Documentary Film Movement (1990). The Saving of Bill Blewett (Abingdon, Oxon), vol. , London, 1958. Drifters (1929) is silent documentary film by John Grierson, his first and only personal film.. theaters to reach audiences in schools and factories, union halls and (co-pr), Judgment Deferred "Art is not a mirror," he said, "but a hammer. The Documentary Idea (London), April/June 1952. Chittock, John, editor, and Julian Petley, researcher and compiler, Song of Ceylon These filmmakers were mostly young, middle-class, educated males with liberal political views. Grierson was educated at the University of Glasgow and the University of Chicago. John grierson made large epic films . [2] A small flotilla followed the Able Seaman, which carried the ashes, and when the urns were lowered into the water, the fishing boats sounded their sirens. (pr), Industrial Britain [2] In his wishes for his funeral he had detailed his desire to be cremated. On page 14 of The Call of the Wild, what's meant by the phrase "The _____ is defined as to lose or give up hope that things will 15. [1], Grierson was born in the old schoolhouse in Deanston, near Doune, Scotland, to schoolmaster Robert Morrison Grierson from Boddam, near Peterhead, and Jane Anthony, a teacher from Ayrshire. [2], In 1965, Grierson was the patron of the Commonwealth Film Festival which took place in Cardiff in that year. The narrator in the 1973 bio-pic, Grierson (National Film Board of Canada) solemnly reads: His ancestors were lighthouse keepers. Nationality: formal and technical experiments. ), and education ( For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Spring Comes to England [2] Grierson spent much of his time corresponding with the directors at Group 3, as well as commenting on scripts and story ideas. Journal of Film and Video Docuseries vs. documentary: What is a docuseries? Grierson's use of institutional sponsorshippublic and , Toronto, 1984. [2] In 1963, he was busy with This Wonderful World and the Films of Scotland Committee but still found time to attend the twenty-fifth anniversary of the National Film Board in Montreal. documentary [9] Grierson resigned from his position in January 1941. His sister Margaret died in 1906; however, the family continued to grow as John gained three younger sisters, Dorothy, Ruby, and finally Marion in 1907. He read and agreed with the journalist and political philosopher Walter Lippmann's book Public Opinion which blamed the erosion of democracy in part on the fact that the political and social complexities of contemporary society made it difficult if not impossible for the public to comprehend and respond to issues vital to the maintenance of democratic society. political figure and dedicated civil servant for most of his life. During Grierson's administration, the GPO Film Unit produced a series of groundbreaking films, including Night Mail (dir. The Young Grierson in America, 1924-1927 Jack C. Ellis An important few of the formative years of John Grierson, the Scot who would inspire and lead Britain into a documentary film movement, were spent in the United States. [5] His research focus was the psychology of propagandathe impact of the press, film, and other mass media on forming public opinion. In a 1926 review of one of Flaherty's films, he coined the term "documentary" to describe the dramatization of the everyday life of ordinary people. [2] He also received the Golden Thistle Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Art of Cinema at the Edinburgh Film Festival. The New Generation (Montreal), January/February 1970. citizenship education. The film revolutionized the way working people were represented in films.John Grierson was especially interested in the power of film to reveal the issues plaguing society and to provoke social change. Pett and Pott [2] His mother, a suffragette and ardent Labour Party activist, often took the chair at Tom Johnston's election meetings. Career: of the British Empire. Cinema Journal In this regard, Grierson's views align with the Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov's contempt for dramatic fiction as "bourgeois excess", though with considerably more subtlety. concerns of the sponsoring General Post Office), Grierson stepped outside (exec pr), Seawards the Great Ships [2] This Wonderful World changed the title to John Grierson Presents. Money made on films was discussed. Grierson, meanwhile, carried his ideas In Drifters Griersons probing lens captures the stoic endurance of herring fishermen going about their work in harsh conditions on dangerous high seas. [3] When the family moved, John had three elder sisters, Agnes, Janet, and Margaret, and a younger brother, Anthony. Interesting technical sidebar: Night Mail was the first film to show actuality images with accompanying sounds. He was soon almost forgotten in Canada. Dickinson, T., "The Rise and Fall of the British He was also the subject of a 1973 NFB documentary, Best Documentary on Science or the Natural World, The Frontier Post Award for Most Entertaining Documentary, Credits from: British Film Institute Catalog (Film Index International), This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 19:04. John Grierson Founder of the British documentary film movement Its leader for 40 years . The young You're Only Young Twice Pioneering Scottish filmmaker John Grierson (1898-1972) is often considered the father of documentary film and credited with coining the very term "documentary" in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana in the February 8, 1926, issue of the New York Sun. The film became a documentary classic and is still seen as a British documentary landmark.Part propaganda piece, part work of art, Night Mail documents the life of mail workers on the nightmail train. [2] Grierson went into hospital for a health check-up in January 1972; he was diagnosed with lung and liver cancer and was given months to live. "The BBC and All That," in (pr); When he headed the film department of the British General Post Office Grierson enlisted poet W.H. . [2], During WWII, Grierson was a consultant to prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King as a minister of the Wartime Information Board. My earliest memories were of helping soup kitchens to keep the strikers going. In 1938 the Canadian government invited Grierson to come to Canada to counsel on the use of film. In film series such as Canada Carries On and The World in Action, he reached an audience of millions in Canadian and American cinemas. Studies in Documentary Grierson made his first film, Drifters (1929), out of his one-bedroom apartment using the kitchen table as an editing bench and the bathroom as a projection booth.He directed, shot and edited the silent short about Britains North Sea herring industry. Ellis, Jack C., "The Young Grierson in America," in A brilliant academic Grierson won a fellowship to the University of Chicago and was one of the first intellectuals to take motion pictures seriously. Grierson prepared a report and on his recommendation King created the National Film Board (NFB) in (London), Spring 1972. (Cavalcanti) (pr); Ellis, Jack C., Film can be mobilized in the public service to give image and perspective to the national scene, is how he put it. In addition to publishing the results of original research for scholars and students, UT Press publishes books of more general 0 Answers/Comments. Trade Tattoo , 4th Edition, London, 1964. John Grierson, (born April 26, 1898, Kilmadock, Stirlingshire, Scot.died Feb. 19, 1972, Bath, Somerset, Eng. (pr), Night Mail [2], Both parents steeped their son in liberal politics, humanistic ideals, and Calvinist moral and religious philosophies, particularly that education was essential to individual freedom and that hard and meaningful work was the way to prove oneself worthy in the sight of God. Evans, Gary, [2] They filmed at Southall Studios in West London but later moved to Beaconsfield Studios. The film, which follows the heroic work of North Sea herring fishermen, was a radical departure from anything being made by the British film industry or Hollywood. (Montreal), June/July 1979. Married Margaret Taylor, 1930. (treatment), Heart of Scotland In Grierson's view, the focus of film should be on the everyday drama of ordinary people. (Wright) (pr); history, culture, arts, and natural history of the state and region. His first work was on the North Sea . career as an individual filmmaker. It is a weapon in our hands to see and say what is good and right and beautiful." Time Gentlemen Please User: 3/4 16/9 Weegy: 3/4 ? In 1939, Grierson left Britain to work with the National Film Board of Canada, where he remained until 1945. The unit was headed by John Grierson, who appointed apprentices such as Basil Wright, Arthur Elton, Edgar Anstey, Stuart Legg, Paul Rotha and Harry Watt. had grown into one of the world's largest film studios and was a model for similar institutions around the world. Workers and Jobs Served in Royal Navy, World War I. (Montreal), May 1972. , January 1946. = 15 ? Sight and Sound From 1936, the movement began to disperse and divisions emerged. This idea arose in Great Britain and spread to the United States. Grierson Awards are presented annually in nine categories: The Canadian Film Awards had presented a Grierson Award for "an outstanding contribution to Canadian cinema in the spirit of John Grierson. Yet they incorporated ), malnutrition among the poor ( In 1923 Grierson had received an M.A. are shown to people in the other parts, and if a government service is Lambert, Gavin, "Who Wants True?," in Canadian and British filmmaker John Grierson (1898-1972) used documentaries to build the National Film Board of Canada into one of the world's largest studios. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Nationalist Ideology in the South African Film Industry: This article related to a film organization is a stub. Budgets and staff were reduced and the NFB came under attack for allegedly harbouring left-wing subversives and as holding a monopoly that threatened the livelihoods of commercial producers. interest for a wider public. Click here to contact a sales representative and request a media kit. Weegy: 15 ? [2], In 1923, Grierson received a Rockefeller Research Fellowship to study in the United States at the University of Chicago, and later at Columbia and the University of WisconsinMadison. Grierson associates, it made films for the government as a whole. Whether "John Grierson," in (Montreal), September 1985. Although Flaherty and Grierson remained life-long friends and sometime collaborators, the Scot didnt always think his American colleague was putting film to its best uses. South Africa, all of which established national film boards. He returned to England in 1928, and the next year the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit sponsored his first and only personally directed film, Drifters (1929), a study of the lives of North Sea herring fishermen. returns from the box office, was a key innovation in the development of His ancestors were lighthouse keepers and his father was a school teacher. John Grierson (1898-1972) is probably Scotland's most important filmmaker. 6 | GRIERSON 2009 The documentary film I gave a push to forty years ago was a richer form of art than I ever dreamt of. This feature film is a portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. John Grierson resigned in 1945 and was replaced by his deputy, Ross McLean, who faced considerable difficulties in the postwar years. More than any one other person, John Grierson was responsible for the Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. He died on 19 February 1972 in Bath, Somerset, England, UK. , edited by Forsyth Hardy, revised edition, London, 1966. [5] Grierson was particularly interested in the popular appeal and influence of the "yellow" (tabloid) press, and the influence and role of these journals on the education of new American citizens from abroad. Nightmail is a paradigm of propaganda so intertwined with art that the viewer experiences pleasure while absorbing the message (painlessly, effortlessly and probably even unconsciously), writes Jack C. Ellis in his critical history The Documentary Idea. These films and the system they came out of became models Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. Film Movement documentaire," in [2] During his time in hospital he spent time dictating letters to his wife, Margaret, and received visitors; however, he fell unconscious on 18 February and died on the 19th. Rotha, Paul, Film Basil Wright and Harry Watt, 1936) and Coal Face (dir. Grierson Movement," in Herrick, D., "The Canadian Connection: John Grierson," in [2][10], Grierson was appointed as a foreign adviser to the Commission on Freedom of the Press in December 1943, which had been set up by the University of Chicago. Grierson on Documentary read them. The emerging new medium of cinema would become Griersons social education delivery system. He became a tireless organizer and recruiter for the EMB, enlisting a stable of energetic young filmmakers into the film unit between 1930 and 1933. of film back to Britain with him in 1927. Housing Problems pushed the boundaries of actuality filmmaking by anticipating 1950s cinema verite on-screen interviews and voice overs and TV formats still with us today commentary, stock footage, miniatures and actuality footage. with in this new kind of documentary included unemployment ( In his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana (1926) in the New York Sun (8 February 1926), Grierson wrote that it had 'documentary' value. In all of this, there was more than a little elitism, a stance reflected in Grierson's many dicta of the time: "The elect have their duty." The orbit of John Griersons legacy touches almost everything we know about documentary. Formation of Canadian Film Culture in the 1930s," in Commissioner of Canada, helped establish National Film Board of Canada, The New Operator Filmography as producer/creative contributor: The Grierson Documentary Film Awards were established in 1972 to commemorate John Grierson and [2], After the war, the National Film Board focused on producing documentaries that reflected the lives of Canadians. (London), Summer 1972. Cinema Canada (London), March 1982. Housing Problems ), founder of the British documentary-film movement and its leader for almost 40 years. Grierson's boss at the EMB moved to the General Post Office (GPO) as its first public relations officer, with the stipulation that he could bring the EMB film unit with him. Film Dope Housing Problems 30, no. Our publication program covers a wide range of disciplines including psychology, philosophy, Black studies, women's studies, cultural studies, music, immigration, and more. attention to pressing problems faced by the nation, insistence that these [2] On 23 June 1948, he accepted an honorary degree, an LL.D from the University of Glasgow. (pr), Aero-Engine The audience were members of the London Film Society, The aim of the awards is to recognise outstanding films that demonstrate integrity, originality and technical excellence, together with social or cultural significance.[13]. By 1937, the movement was spread across four different production units: GPO, Shell (headed by Anstey), Strand (headed by Rotha) and Realist (led by Wright). [2] Ruby Grierson had managed to enter Lifeboat 8, full with more than thirty people, including eighteen girls and two female escorts, but as it was lowering, a wave crashed into the lifeboat, sending it into a vertical position, and throwing everyone in that boat into the sea. John Grierson was especially interested in the power of film to reveal the issues plaguing society and to provoke social change. Introducing the Dial John grierson made large epic films: FALSE. [2] The BBC expressed their wishes to make a programme about Grierson in the year of his seventieth birthday, which he turned down three times[2] In the year of his seventieth birthday, Grierson received many tributes from across the globe. Updates? Journal of Film Studies Cargo from Jamaica [2], In December 1943 Grierson was elected by the Permanent Film Committee of the National Council for Canadian-Soviet Friendship to become honorary chairman. Story of the Film Movement Founded by John Grierson other, will develop and everyone will want to contribute his or her share [2] A Free and Responsible Press was published in 1947. [2] At Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh on 8 July 1969, Grierson received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature. Ellis, Jack C., "John Grierson's First Years at the National to the better functioning of the whole. Grierson's emphasis on realism had a profound long-term influence on Canadian film. The film was shown from 9 December 1929, in the Stoll in Kingsway and then was later screened throughout Britain.[2]. In 1934, Grierson sailed on the Isabella Greig out of Granton to film Granton Trawler on Viking Bank which is between Shetland and the Norwegian coast. For example, captured footage of German war activity was incorporated in documentaries that were distributed to the then-neutral United States. filmmakers exposed to it came to share Grierson's broad social Less commendable in Grierson's view was Flaherty's focus on exotic and faraway cultures. John Grierson, 1968 It will be eighty years next week, 10 November 1929, that John Grierson's Drifters had its premier in the old Tivoli Theatre in the Strand. A "Professional Notes" section informs Society for Cinema and Media Studies members about upcoming events, research opportunities, and the latest published research. (London), Spring 1934. He admired the work of avant-garde filmmakers in the 1920s who made European Symphonies, impressionistic films of panoramic urban landscapes and reality scenes from daily metropolitan life. church basements. Nelson, Joyce, On October 14, 1939, he accepted the posi-tion of first Film Commissioner of Canada, which he held until his resignation six years later. to the villages. Film Unit, that some of Grierson's notions regarding the social and political uses of film were influenced by reading Lenin's writing about film as education and propaganda.). Grierson on Documentary In 1939, Canada created the National Film Commission, which would later become the National Film Board of Canada. John Grierson, the Scottish film pioneer who turned government film bureaucrat when he was asked to institute the National Film Board of Canada in 1939, is credited with coining the word "documentary." Grierson's definition of the form still holds up today. and Its Legitimations [2] At the Edinburgh Film Festival in the same year, a dinner was held in Grierson's honour to celebrate twenty-five years of documentary. [2] The New University Labour Club was initiated by John as well as the Critic's Club; he also had poetry published in the Glasgow University magazine from November 1920 until February 1923. (London), October/December 1951. In 1934 he produced at the GPO Film Unit the award-winning The Song of Ceylon (dir. (Flaherty) (pr, co-ed), King Log The World in Action He was previously married to Margaret Grierson. (Wright) (pr); Moana A second innovation, complementing the first, was on Scotland Committee, 1954; produced and presented (North York, Ontario), vol. [2] One of the tasks at the National Film Board that Grierson strongly pushed for the films being produced to be in French as well as English. Later he was an executive producer in Britain for television and motion pictures and acted as an adviser to makers of informational films. Film Board," in In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Flaherty 's Moana. , and influenced many documentary filmmakers, not only in Britain and Canada but [2] Only one copy of the film was made, it was sent to the Swiss Red Cross who deliberately let it fall into German hands. Eskimo Village So This Is London See also related digitized artefacts and memorabilia. Spectator Learn how and when to remove this template message, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Documentary_Film_Movement&oldid=934857783. f. The Smoke Menace His final feature, Louisiana Story (1948), is beautifully photographed, but its message about the harmlessness of oil-drilling has been somewhat undermined by, among other disasters, the recent BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. My earliest memories were of helping soup kitchens to keep the strikers going an Honorary Doctorate Literature. Including Night Mail ( dir made to follow citation style rules, there May be some discrepancies adviser! 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