KARACHI: Film, specifically documentaries, can be a very powerful medium for propaganda and when viewing a documentary, one must be aware of who has paid for its production and what they seek to achieve with it.
This is what acclaimed film-maker Professor Alan Segal told the audience during a lecture titled ‘Media and documentary’ organised by the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) here on Wednesday. Prof Segal has directed and produced the acclaimed documentary serial End of Empire for Granada Television.
“Film – and now video tape – has enormous propaganda value. Nothing is as it seems. Film is very deceptive. One must ask who is paying for it. Why are they putting in money? What is their real purpose? Documentary can be used for good or for great ill,” he said.
Prof Segal primarily focused on the development of the documentary format in Britain, using clips from major documentaries to illustrate his points.
He started off by asking why documentaries were of such great interest. “What are their benefits and pitfalls?” He said documentaries arrived in Britain with the arrival of talking films. In the late 1920s ‘talkies’ had begun to make an appearance. Those in power began to take great interest in the technology and “talking films became a potent weapon. The government and politicians saw the propaganda value in these films. They were not going to leave documentaries just as entertainment. They became a tool of political control”.
The veteran film-maker said that in the 1930s, Britain was also suffering from the effects of the global economic depression. “It became imperative for those in power to alleviate the difficulties of the people [through film]”. But the government did not do this directly, and that is when commercial concerns, referred to as “soulful corporations”, stepped in to promote government interests by sponsoring films.
He showed a clip from 1936’s Night Mail, a film that was made to show the superiority of British Railways, particularly the efficiency of the postal service as made possible by the railways. It was to pacify the people and to lift them out of the misery of the 30s, he said. The film featured poetry written specifically for it by W.H. Auden.
“Then came World War II”, said Alan Segal. “Britain was totally mobilised. The government saw the benefits of propaganda. Documentaries would help win the war. The government wanted to energise the people in order to continue the war effort”. In this regard, he showed clips from 1941’s Listen to Britain.
The film shows that life in Britain is quite normal despite the war, as people from all walks of life leisurely listen to classical music. Prof Segal said the film targeted the American market, as the United States had at that time not yet joined the war. It was propaganda to nudge the Americans to enter the war, he said, as it attempted to show Britain as a united nation in the face of war.
After the war things started to change as young film-makers started to challenge and question government control over documentaries. “Film-makers managed to claw back from the government control of films”. To illustrate this change, Prof Segal showed clips from 1966’s BBC television docu-drama Cathy Come Home, directed by the legendary Ken Loach. It shows the problems of a young middle class family which has to face the “courteous condescension” of smug state functionaries as they apply for state housing.
Prior to Prof Segal’s lecture, clips from End of Empire were screened.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/4/2010
