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Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain

Introduction

The Channel 4 programme, Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain, made by Figment Films, told the story of an exceptionally talented film-maker who changed the way we look at ourselves and our past. After a career which took in surrealism as well as Mass Observation, Jennings became part of the new British documentary film movement. During the Second World War he made a series of classic morale-boosting films, such as London Can Take It and Fires Were Started.

Jennings's name may be unknown to the general audience today, but he is a fascinating figure in the history of cinema. Not everyone would agree with director Lindsay Anderson's assessment that Jennings was 'the only real poet that British cinema has yet produced', however, few dispute his importance in the development of the documentary form.

This programme was made by Kevin Macdonald, who won an Oscar in 2000 for One Day in September - his documentary about the 1972 Olympic Games massacre. Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain included interviews with film-makers Lord Attenborough and Mike Leigh, and with Jennings's daughter, Mary-Lou Legg. Using testimony from those who worked with him, the programme reclaimed Jennings's rightful place in British cinema.

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Life story

The films

Reality on screen

Observing the masses

Surreal Britain

Resources

Perspectives on Jennings:

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Includes layout and images.

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