The Slade Film History Register was established in 1969 by Thorold Dickinson, Professor of Film at the Slade School of Fine Art, with a grant from the Social Science Research Council. The object was ‘to create a central register of film material likely to be of interest to historians in much the same way as the National Register of Archives had done for the country’s primary written documents’. The Register began to gather and index material, showing a particular interest in the newsreels. In 1974 the Register passed into the care of the then British Universities Film Council. By this stage its newsreel content comprised an index to 30,000 stories, and a growing collection of issue sheets (the documents on which the newsreel recorded the contents of each bi-weekly issue).

Academic interest in the newsreels was by this time starting to grow, and this interest in turn inspired a succession of publications from the BUFVC based on the Slade Film History Register holdings. Three volumes were published (in 1983, 1988 and 1993) of the Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels, which included extensive abstracts, statistics, essays and other material relating to newsreel history.

Projecting Britain explores a film genre neglected for decades: the cinemagazine. Watched by millions, both in Britain and abroad, these fascinating ‘screen magazines’ reflected all aspects of popular culture from fashions and fads, to football and factories. This volume spans the history of the cinemagazine from the first known example, Kinemacolor Fashion Gazette released in 1913, through Mining Review and Look at Life to those still produced today, such as Prisons Video Magazine. A remarkably pervasive and popular form of screen entertainment, cinemagazines reveal a fascinating visual document of Britain in the twentieth century. Projecting Britain includes:

• A comprehensive directory of 130 cinemagazine series from 1913 to the present day
• Six articles which examine the cinemagazine as the ‘colour supplement’ of the cinema programme, a public relations tool and purveyor of propaganda
• Original texts including correspondence, memos and extracts from books and journals
• A resources section, including a list of archive holdings and descriptive bibliography

The Reader brings together over forty key texts on the British newsreels, from their silent beginnings to their revival as the ingredient of television documentaries. The texts come from trade-papers, memoirs, parliamentary debates, newspapers articles, publicity brochures, film reviews and academic essays past and present. The Reader documents how the newsreels were produced, how they were received, and the controversies they inspired through the conflicting demands of news and entertainment. It covers filming of two World Wars, from the invasion of Belgium to the liberation of Belsen; the Spanish Civil War; the rise of television; and enduring arguments over censorship, propaganda and political bias in the news. It documents their organisation, the cameramen’s experiences, and the overlooked role of women in the newsreels. It covers the academic interest they have aroused, with classic studies and the best of research taking place today.

Outrageous and conservative, cowardly and courageous, impartial and manipulative, in all things entertaining the newsreels documented their times with gusto. Their sense of the news was often suspect, but their sense of what the audience wanted and understood was acute. It was that popular sensibility that kept them in the cinemas for decades. This Reader revives the spirit of a richly rewarding medium.

1st edition, edited by Luke McKernan November 2002. pbk. 330 pages.
ISBN 0 901299 73 1

Between 1910 and 1979 the newsreels, released twice a week in British cinemas, gave millions their picture of national and world events. They have now preserved an invaluable record of life and news in the twentieth century. This is the first biographical account of someone who worked for the British newsreels to be published in over twenty years. John Turner worked as a cameraman for Gaumont-British News between 1937 and 1952. As a war correspondent he was attached to the Royal Navy and filmed in the UK, North Sea, Mediterranean, Italy, North Africa, north west Europe and the Far East. In peace time he filmed many classic news stories, and was in India at the time of independence and Gandhi’s assassination. In 1952 he became the royal rota cameraman for the Newsreel Association, filming the royal Commonwealth tours and numerous exclusive royal events. Between 1962 and 1970 he became production manager and then news editor for Pathe News.

Filming History will be of importance to social, cultural and political historians, university courses on media and communication studies, and anyone interested in the history of British Film and the important part played in that history by the newsreels.

1st edition, December 2001, pbk, 256 pages,
ISBN 0 901299 72 3

The papers, presentations and proceedings of an international conference held at the National Film Theatre, London, between 2 and 4 October 1996 which brought together cameramen, editors, producers, film and television researchers and academics from many countries to celebrate 100 years of news on film and television. The book provides a lively insight into the world of the newsfilm – one of the century’s most powerful forms of journalism. With its mix of formal papers, presentations and discussions, the material will inform and entertain everyone interested in news on film and television.

Edited by Clyde Jeavons, Jane Mercer and Daniela Kirchner 1998. pbk. 170pages.
ISBN 0901299693

The CD-ROM of the British Universities Newsreel Project (BUNP) database was published in March 2000, and contains details of almost 160,000 British cinema newsreel stories. Between 1910 and 1979 the newsreels, released twice a week in British cinemas, gave millions their picture of national and world events. They have now preserved an invaluable record of life and news in the twentieth century. Based on the data contained in original newsreel issue sheets, the BUNP CD-ROM contains full text and keyword search facilities, allows

Produced by the British Universities Film & Video Council in association with the InterUniversity History Film Consortium, this CD-ROM examines the origins of the Cold War using eight contemporary newsreel stories, from Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in 1946 to the Korean War in 1950. With new historical commentaries and background text the CD-ROM forms a valuable and attractive teaching resource.