Tie Cinema aid Civilisation.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18159, 25 October 1930, Page 13 (Supplement)

Tie Cinema aid Civilisation.

(By F. A. Mackenzie in Overseas.)

THE cinematograph is the befst possible agent for educating native peoples in civilisation, sanitation, patriotism and morals. Here is a method of nstruction which so attracts the most ignorant and hostile races that they are not merely. come, and to come again and again. This ' u "^, e L ' admitted. It is also universally admitted that bad films have done great harm, have lowered the prestige of the Englishman, and particularly of the English woman, and have given wholly false ideas of our life. A Colonial Office Committee has been meeting for some years to. consider what can be done to deal with bad a encourage the production and use of good films. Its report was expected some weeks ago, but, up to the time or writing this, it is still not in sight. There are numerous societies whose main purpose is to Encourage Visual Eduoatlon, among the people of the Empire. Great teachers, leaders of universities and professors galore, have spoken lm support of It. Last year a very distinguished scientist explored the West Coast of Africa to see how best to develop the use of the cinematograph among the native peoples And yet, when I Inquire what has actually been done lam amazed at the smallness of the showing. There is no adeQuate supply of patriotic, educational and medical films to be had, and there is no general organisation for supplylng them if they were available. Even the missionary societies, which are often pioneers in the use of the new weapons of civilisation, seem to have scarcely anything along this line. 1 , The colony where the greatest effort has been made is apparently, Nigeria, where district officers, using portable cinematograph apparatus, have found great success and a quick way to the native mind. In the Transvaal an enterprising educationalist is employing the film freely in teaching the natives in the compounds. A very few missionaries In the Pacific Islands and elsewhere are also using it. Some of them are employing a well-known small French apparatus by which they can take their own films and exhibit them with current produced by the apparatus.. But, beyond these Isolated and Far-flung Examples, I have been unable to discover much more. This is not the fault of the people on the spot. “I have received hundreds of applications from all parts of the Empire for the loan of our films, and for the use of apparatus,” one leading dealer in cinematograph films told me. “But it is impossible commercially to do anything but refuse them. One well-known organisation, British Instructional Films, has loaned films for use in the Colonies with satisfactory results, but I imagine that tills'was done more as a patriotic effort than as a profit-making enterprise. The first problem to be solved is the production on an adequaie scale of suitable educational, medical and patriotic moving pictures that will appeal to the native mind. There, is No Lack of Supply of- Bad Films. These can be obtained in unlimited number at almost any price people like to pay, but when we come to films of the kind that we are seeking, the conditions are very different, for the simple reason that the market is so limited that it would be difficult to make a commercial profit in it. Among the British organisations that are specially devoting themselves to educational films, two or three demand special mention. Community Services, under the very energetic direction of Mr Hodges, has- done a fine work in accumulating a supply of educational and similar films for this country, and in arranging their distribution. It not onlv keeps great stocks, but produces itself and encourages production, by others. But I understand that. Community Services ’does not feel able to extend its activities to the Colonies. British Instructional Films has a Special department for educational films and has, during the ten or eleven years of its existence, produced a large number of suitable pictures which it lets out for this purpose. Among feature films It includes such subjects as the Epic of Everest, the Prince of Wales’ tours, reels illustrating life in the British Navy, and a series showing, in “Britain’s Birthright," different parts of the Efnpire. It has geographical films displaying life in every part of the Empire and in foreign countries, health films, and others dealing with history, natural history, physiology and scripture. This represents the biggest effort that I know, but I imagine that' those respon-

GREAT FORCE FOR GOOD OR EVIL

sible for British Instructional Films would be the first to say that the Field Is Very Far From Covered. Messrs. Foyle, the well-known London booksellers, are now organising on a highly efficient scale a body of specialists for the production of educational, cultural, scientific, travel and medical films. They have a large quantity of films ready and more coming. If Messrs. Foyle show the same enterprise, originality and daring in this department as they have in the book trade, the results should be very marked. The Germans have entered the British field, in particular the Ufa Company, and are specialising in short natural history films for children, which would appeal to primitive peoples. Without any depreciation of the German effort I should like to see this don# from the British, angle. But when I contrast this with what Is being carried out in other lands, our effort seems very little. The most striking use of the cinematograph for the education of the people that I know is to be found in Soviet Russia. The Bolshevists employ the film as one of their Most Potent Propagandist Methods. Travelling cinematograph shows, aiming at Instruction, make official tours throughout Europe and into the very heart of Asia. Much of the stuff which they show is highly charged political propaganda, but a part is also useful teaching matter. The peasant is taught modern methods of agriculture and the primitive people of Central Asia are Instructed in striking fashion in the elements of sanitation. Mothers are shown how to care for their children and families how to preserve their health. The time has come for us to make a big development along this line. The effort cannot be left wholly in private hands because it will require to be supported financially from the outside. The Imperial Government and the Colonial Governments should provide a fund for production and distribution, such as now exists for medical research. My own belief is that this work could be -best managed by a public trust similar to the British Broadcasting Corporation. -which could work in friendly -accord with existing efforts. It could possibly subsidise the production of some films and could facilitate the manufacture and distribution of projectors specially suitable for semi-civilised lands. It might even have its own travelling experts to prepare and develop Empire films. One department of the trust could educate Britain and the Dominions by means of moving pictures in the truth, about our colonies. It could help to show the native peoples-what England really is, and could be a great agent not alone of education, but, of mutual understanding. The time is coming for action. Up to now there has been very Much Talk and Very Little Accomplishment. If films of the right’kind are to be circulated freely It will be necessary to simplify Customs regulations. These 1 are in many parts a very decided hindrance, causing often much expense and, still,more often, considerable delay. With films, delay,is deadly. There is no needs to emphasise the great harm that had films are doing to white civilisation. China, in particular, has become a moving picture cesspool. Innumerable films of the lowest type are bring freely shown all over the land, which hold up the Englishman as cruel and conscienceless, and the English woman as unspeakably degraded. Some day, no doubt, the Chinese authorities will establish a real censorship, but by -that time the damage will be done. I should like to see every British missionary compound in China give its cinematograph displays of wholesome, sane, everyday British life, picturing our sports, our homes and our industry. These would be the best answer and best advertisement that (Britain could have. Some few years ago when living in a town in Russia I was somewhat startled at an example of the educational effects of films. I was talking with a group of Russian ladies and the name of an American Senator came up. “Ah,” said one lady brightly. ‘T know all about Senators.” “What do you know about therq?” I asked. “Well,” said she, “they Usually Start by Running Gambling Dens. They shoot their rivals, make a great deal of money and bribe the police. Then they become politicians and so rise to Senators.” “Where did you learn all. th ; s?” I asked curiously. “Several American films have been shown here,” the lady replied. "I have seen them and they describe the whole method. It must be really exciting to be an American Senator 1"