Learning on ScreenBritain in the Thirties
- Alternative title
- British Avant-Garde: The Thirties
- Synopsis
- A compilation of short British avant-garde films from the 1930s - a decade marked by both the birth of British realism, and a surrealist influence from Europe.
- Series
- History of the Avant-Garde, A: Series
- Language
- English
- Country
- Great Britain
- Medium
- Video; Videocassette. VHS. b&w/col. silent/sound. 177 min.
- Year of production
- 1939
- Availability
- Sale; 2000 sale: £19.99 (inclusive)
- Documentation
- Accompanying booklet on the British avant-garde movement of the period by Michael O’Pray.
Sections
- Title
- Song of Ceylon
- Synopsis
- 1 (directors John Grierson, Harry Watt and Basil Wright, b&w, 40 min): Made by the Empire Marketing Board (later the GPO Film Unit) for the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board. A film in four parts on life and traditions of Ceylon, using a 17th century travel boo
- Title
- Bread
- Synopsis
- 2 (directed by the London Kino Group, 1934).
- Title
- Tell me if it hurts
- Synopsis
- 3 (director Richard Massingham, 1934).
- Title
- Beyond this open road
- Synopsis
- 4 (director Vivian Braun, 1934).
- Title
- Housing problems
- Synopsis
- 5 (director Alberto Cavalcanti, 1935, b&w, 10 min): Coalmining in Britain in the 1930s: conditions and state of the industry in the economy at that time. Set to verse by W H Auden, with music by Benjamin Britten.
- Title
- Birth of the robot, The
- Synopsis
- 6 (directors Arthur Elton and Edgar Anstey, 1935, b&w, 16 min): Slum-dwellers in Stepney in the East End of London tell their own stories of poor housing in on-the-spot interviews, unrehearsed and unscripted. Also shows rehousing in new flats.
- Title
- Colour box, A
- Synopsis
- 7 (directors Humphrey Jennings and Len Lye, 1935): An advertisement for Shell Oil.
- Title
- Camera makes whoopee
- Synopsis
- 8 (director Len Lye, 1935, 4 min). Len Lye pioneered the technique of painting directly on to the film negative, and this is the first film that he brought to John Grierson. Grierson liked the film and told him to go away and paint the new cheaper rates f
- Title
- Hell unltd
- Synopsis
- 9 (director Norman McLaren, 1935, silent, 15 min): Shows at preparations for a costume party, filmed at the Glasgow School of Art in collaboration with Helen Biggar. Full of clever cross-cutting, this silent film was designed for musical improvisation.
- Title
- Love on the wing
- Synopsis
- 10 (director Norman McLaren, 1935): An anti-war agit-prop classic.
- Title
- N or NW
- Synopsis
- 11 (director Norman McLaren, 1939, 4 min): An early colour animation advertising film. By using a 'squiggle' which is under constant metamorphasis into three characters, McLaren creates a tale of love as a means of promoting the then fledgling air mail se
- Title
- Spare time
- Synopsis
- 12 (director Len Lye, 1938, 8 min): A surrealistic poem, produced with Alberto Cavalcani, about the importance of addressing letters correctly. Set to music by Fats Waller.
Distributor
- Name
BFI Video
- video.films@bfi.org.uk
- Web
- http://www.bfi.org.uk External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7957 8957
- Fax
- 020 7957 8968
- Address
- 21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
Available from retail outlets
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