GPO film: 'Spare Time' showing at cinemas across the UK
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As part of an ongoing collaboration with the British Film
Institute (BFI), Spare Time, directed
by Humphrey Jennings, is now being shown at cinemas across the UK. Spare Time – one of the archive GPO Film
Unit documentaries in The Royal Mail Archive – is being shown as part of Finest Hour, an archival programme of
Humphrey Jennings’ shorts, which is screening in celebration of the centenary
of Jennings’ birth.
One of Britain’s
greatest documentary filmmakers, Humphrey Jennings (1907–1950) was one of the
leading directors of public information films in Britain concentrating on the social
fabric of life. He began his film career by working at the GPO Film Unit under
John Grierson and his finest work is considered to be the films he produced during
the war years.
The Finest Hour
programme incorporates four Jennings
films; Spare Time (1939, 15mins), Words for Battle (1941, 8mins), The Silent Village (1943, 36mins) and Listen to Britain (1942, 20mins). Spare Time was produced by the GPO Film
Unit, whilst the other three films were produced by the Crown Film Unit and
sponsored by the Ministry of Information.
Set-up in 1933, the GPO Film Unit produced one of the
finest British catalogues of documentary, public information, animation and
industrial film ever to come from a single UK source. Largely credited for the
development of the documentary genre, the GPO Film Unit became the Crown Film
Unit in 1940, when it became part of the Ministry of Information and began
delivering official war propaganda. The GPO films are part of The Royal Mail
Archive and are now housed in the BFI due to preservation requirements.
Spare Time was produced by Alberto Cavalcanti, directed by Humphrey Jennings and features a commentary by the novelist Laurie Lee. It was released shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and it was Jennings’ first real opportunity as a director. The film set out to challenge assumptions of the time by showing workers from three different industries – steel, cotton and coal – and their individual characters through the pursuit of their spare time interests, instead of presenting them as symbols of the dignity of labour. This social awareness is matched by the technical virtuosity of the film’s construction as Jennings’ work beautifully weaves image and sound to evoke the epic heroism in the everyday.
Finest Hour will be showing at the following UK cinemas:
|
Cinema: |
Start date: |
End date: |
|
Berkhamsted REX Cinema |
06/09/2007 |
06/09/2007 |
|
London BFI Southbank |
07/09/2007 |
13/09/2007 |
|
Edinburgh Filmhouse |
08/09/2007 |
08/09/2007 |
|
Liverpool Picturehouse at FACT |
16/09/2007 |
16/09/2007 |
|
Cambridge Arts Picturehouse |
16/09/2007 |
16/09/2007 |
|
Electric Birmingham |
22/09/2007 |
23/09/2007 |
|
Ipswich Hollywood Film Theatre |
24/09/2007 |
24/09/2007 |
|
Aldeburgh Cinema |
26/09/2007 |
26/09/2007 |
|
Cardiff Chapter |
27/09/2007 |
27/09/2007 |
|
Bristol Watershed |
28/09/2007 |
29/09/2007 |
|
Winchester Screen |
11/10/2007 |
11/10/2007 |
|
New Park Chichester Cinema |
02/11/2007 |
03/11/2007 |