Topic

Dates

1958 - 1959

Category

Cinemagazine - Government

History

Topic was a magazine series of thirteen black and white films produced by the Central Office of Information (COI) on behalf of the Foreign Office, primarily for broadcast on television in the United States of America. It was roughly produced on a monthly basis and sent to British Information Services in New York which would then distribute the 16mm films throughout the USA. Topic was designed to ‘introduce’ Americans to various aspects of British life, hence it’s alternative title Meet the British. An American couple, Joan and Julius Evans presented most of the issues, exploring a variety of subjects, ranging from the ‘typical housewife’ to a Member of Parliament, as well as Oxford, Coventry and Northern Ireland. The series was contracted to two production companies, Anvil Films who made most of the series, and Independent Television News.

Provenance

The COI catalogue cards and viewing copies at BFI Archive Footage Sales, COI catalogues at the BFI National Archive, the production files (INF 6) and the monthly divisional reports of the COI (INF 8) at The National Archives and BFI National Archive database.

Films in this series can be obtained from:

Film Archive

Name

British Film Institute (BFI)

Email

For BFI National Archive enquiries: nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk For commercial/footage reuse enquiries: footage.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7580 7503

Address

21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN

Notes

The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).

Series held

View all series held by British Film Institute (BFI)