Documentary News Letter

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Documentary News Letter
Nanook of the north.jpg
Documentary News Letter
Founder John Grierson
First issueJanuary 1940 (1940-January)
Final issue1949 (1949)
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
OCLC 9835272

Documentary News Letter was a magazine about documentary film founded by filmmaker John Grierson. [1] The publication was developed as the wartime successor to World Film News, which ceased publication in 1938, and sought to promote a "documentary approach to everyday living." It published its first edition in January 1940, with an editorial board that consisted of Grierson, Paul Rotha, Basil Wright, Arthur Elton and Thomas Baird. [2]

Documentary News Letter featured editorials and film reviews written by members of the Documentary Film Movement. Wright has stated that the magazine was influential during the Second World War, influencing the Ministry of Information's approach to film propaganda. [3] In its reviews, Documentary News Letter was particularly critical of films which it considered "inauthentic", [4] :329 notably films directed by Humphrey Jennings. [4] :241

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References

  1. Ellis, Jack C.; McLane, Betsy A. (August 2005). McLane, Betsy A. (ed.). A New History of Documentary Film . New York City: Continuum. pp. 61–62. ISBN   978-0-8264-1751-0. LCCN   2005013290. OL   3399418M . Retrieved 2022-05-28 via Internet Archive.
  2. "Documentary News Letter". Cinema St. Andrews. University of St Andrews. 2013-04-23. Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2022-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. Chapman, James (1998). The British at War: Cinema, State, and Propaganda, 1939–1945 . London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN   978-1-8606-4158-9. OCLC   39225602. OL   8627185M via Internet Archive.
  4. 1 2 Aldgate, Anthony; Richards, Jeffrey (1994). Britain Can Take It: British Cinema in the Second World War (New ed.). I.B. Tauris. ISBN   9780748605088. LCCN   95100566. OL   827534M via Internet Archive.