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100 British Documentaries: BFI Screen Guides

17/09/2007

270 pages

Published/distributed by BFI

ISBN/EAN: 9781844571956

Paperback

Price: £12.99

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100 British Documentaries: BFI Screen Guides

Russell, Patrick

Ever since John Grierson popularised the term 'documentary' British non fiction film has been much celebrated, sometimes reviled, but seldom properly appreciated.

100 British Documentaries provides an accessible and occasionally provocative introduction to a rich and surprisingly varied tradition, by considering 100 examples from a century's worth of cinema, from the Victorian period to the present day.

In the book's illuminating introduction, Patrick Russell describes the factors influencing his selection of films, referencing debates over how documentary should be defined and demonstrating that much of its history has been forgotten or ignored.

The 100 films represent work by a wide range of film-makers, including Humphrey Jennings, Paul Rotha, Lindsay Anderson, Molly Dineen, Nick Broomfield and Patrick Keiller, in a variety of styles, genres and subjects. Alongside such classics as Night Mail and Touching the Void are documentaries by fairly neglected film-makers, and fascinating minor works that shed light on the documentary form and the many uses to which it has been put - from political propaganda to classroom teaching aid. While the focus is on the documentary 'film', several television productions are included, indicating how documentary has developed on the small screen.

Russell's insightful essays on the 100 films place them in context, discuss the ways in which they represent their subject matter, and consider how they portray Britain during a century of great social and political change.

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