3 February
–
23 April 2006
Films:
Section 1: Defining DocumentaryJohn Gierson 1898-1972
Drifters 1929
© Crown Copyright / Film Images
John Grierson was to become the chief architect of the British documentary film movement which emerged during the 1930s. Grierson's first film, Drifters 1929, about the North Sea herring fishing fleet, can be seen as marking the beginning of the movement. It was in part a response to avant-garde, Modernist films, adopting formal techniques such as montage - constructive editing emphasising the rhythmic juxtaposition of images - but also aimed to make a socially directed commentary on its subject. Drifters was both a critical and commercial success and established Grierson as a significant force in film-making.