Film
MovieMail
PO Box 220
Hereford
HR1 2ZH
Tel: 0870 870 9910
E-mail: Enquiries@moviem.co.uk
Website: www.moviem.co.uk
This UK video and DVD mail-order internet company stocks a good selection of Jennings's films: The Silent Village/This Is Your Enemy (1943), Listen to Britain (1942), Listening to Britain, A Jennings Trilogy: The Heart of Britain (1941), Listen to Britain (1942) and A Diary for Timothy (1946), Fires Were Started (1943).
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Books
Pandaemonium: the Coming of the Machine in the Industrial Revolution by Humphrey Jennings (Picador Papermac, 1995), £10.
A collage of writings which explore how the human imagination experienced the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
The Humphrey Jennings Film Reader edited by Kevin Jackson (Carcanet Press, 1993). Out of print but should be available through libraries.
The story of Jennings's life in his own words, using many previously unpublished letters, treatments and screenplays. It reprints all of his writings on literature, painting and other subjects.
Fires Were Started by Brian Winston (British Film Institute, 1999), £7.99
Excellent study of Jennings's masterpiece, which analyses the film and puts it in the context of his career and of the Second World War. A very good read.
Claiming the Real by Brian Winston (British Film Institute, 1995), £14.99.
Explores the role of Grierson and other documentary film-makers, examining both the principles and practice of the major movements in the genre.
John Grierson by Jack C Ellis (Southern Illinois University Press, 2000), £42.50.
Examines Grierson's accomplishments in detail, probing the complexities of his motivation and personality.
The Finest Years: British cinema of the 1940s by Charles Drazin (Deutsch, 1998). Out of print but should be available through libraries.
Were the 1940s the finest years of British cinema? Drazin studies the directors and producers of that era.
Imagining Reality: The Faber Book of Documentary by Kevin Macdonald and Mark Cousins (Faber, 1998), £12.99
A wide-ranging collection of texts about the history of the documentary film, with chapters on Grierson and the British tradition along with contributions from all over the world.
Writing Ourselves: Mass-Observation and Literacy Practices (Language and Social Processes) by Dorothy Sheridan, Brian V Street and David Bloome (Hampton Press, 2000), £26.50.
Describes the Mass-Observation project, its history and controversies with anthropology.
Speak for Yourself: A Mass-Observation Anthology 1937-49 edited by Angus Calder and Dorothy Sheridan (Oxford University Press, 1985). Out of print but should be available through libraries.
An excellent anthology of reports from the Mass Observation movement, which shows the mixture of the ordinary and the bizarre in its work. A living social history.
Surrealism in Britain by Michel Remy (Ashgate, 1999), £50.
A comprehensive, illustrated study of the achievements of British surrealists in art, poetry, and politics.
The People's War by Angus Calder (Pimlico, 1992), £15.
Reveals how ordinary people experienced the Second World War, and provides a fascinating background history to the films of the time.
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Websites
Humphrey Jennings: True poet of cinema
www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/directors-film-crew/
9791-humphrey-jennings-true-poet-cinema.html
An appreciation by Sukhdev Sandhu.
It's Not Just Michael Powell: British films of the 30s, 40s and 50s
www.britishpictures.com
Archive information on directors and stars from the 1930s to the 1950s, including a filmography of Humphrey Jennings.
Mass Observation
www.massobs.org.uk/index.htm
Find out more about the origins of Mass Observation or link to the Mass-Observation archive at the library of the University of Sussex.
British Council – British films
www.britfilms.com
Contains two databases: the British Films Catalogue and the Directory of International Film and Video Festivals which you can browse.
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Organisations
The British Film Institute
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
Tel: 020 7255 1444
Website: www.bfi.org.uk
For those seeking a career in the film industry, the BFI's website database of short courses in media and multimedia should be a useful tool.
Skillset
Skillset National Training Organisation (NTO)
Focus Point
21 Caledonian Road
London N1 9GB
Tel: 020 7713 9800
E-mail: info@skillset.org
Website: www.skillset.org
National training organisation for broadcast, film, video and multimedia. Supported by key employers and unions.
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Credits
Writer: Aleks Sierz
Editor: David Highton
Project manager: Mandy Richards
Editorial consultant: Julia Bard
Design: Sue Davis
RealVideo clips: Simon Williams
Thanks to: Kevin Jackson, Louise Pascale, Rebecca Watts (BFI), Film Images & the Lee Miller Archive.
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