Coinciding with the A Picture of Britain exhibition, this programme of classic films demonstrates how the filmmakers of the British Documentary Movement followed – and were perhaps subliminally inspired by – traditions in landscape painting in their treatment of the rural landscape. The three main films present the countryside not only as a visual but also as a social theme, suggesting its centrality to the UK’s sense of national identity. The screening concludes with a film using landscape to contextualise visual art.

Britain's Countryside
Marion Grierson, UK 1934, 10’

Explicitly presents unspoilt countryside and surviving rural traditions as a balance to Britain’s increasing mechanisation. Includes footage of several UK regions.

Farming in Spring
Mary Field, UK 1934, 10'
 
Filmed on a Suffolk farm, this educational film explains seasonal agricultural activity – but it also sets out to convey the images and rhythms of pastoral life to its intended audience (schoolchildren, many of whom would never have been near a farm). 

The Face of Britain
Paul Rotha, UK 1935, 18’

Rotha’s film, by contrast, emphasises the effect of the Industrial Revolution in dramatically changing  the rural landscape.

Figures in a Landscape
Dudley Shaw Aston, 1954, 18’

This study of the work of sculptor Barbara Hepworth sets it against the powerful landscape of Cornwall which was one of her inspirations.