3 February
–
23 April 2006
Films:
Section 1: Defining DocumentaryJohn Gierson 1898-1972
Granton Trawler 1929
Grierson described documentary as 'the creative use of actuality', stressing the role of filmmaker as interpreter. Granton Trawler 1934, on which Grierson worked alone as both director and cameraman, returns to the subject area of Drifters - here it is a trawler out fishing on Viking Bank, off Scotland’s north-west coast. Owing to the limitations of sound recording equipment at the time the soundtrack was added later; this audio collage was created by the veteran Modernist filmmaker Alberto Cavalcanti and exemplifies his avant-garde experimentation with sound. Both films demonstrate Grierson's belief that film should focus on the everyday drama of ordinary people.