News on Screen

Series

Series Name

Rhodesian Spotlight

Issue

Issue No.

8

Length of issue (in feet)

948

Stories in this Issue:

• 1. Kitwe Celebrates
• 2. Federation News
• 3. Nyasaland’s Growing Tea Industry
• 4. Australian Trade Commission in Salisbury
• 5. Sporting Life on the Copperbelt
• 6. CAA Flight from Salisbury to Durban
• 7. Land Clearing at Karoi.

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 7

Summary

Rhodesian Spotlight synopsis: Kitwe celebrates the installation of its first Mayor, Mr Maurice Gersh with dancing in the African quartered a parade of floats through the street.
Rhodesian Spotlight Commentary - The age old drums of Northern Rhodesia speak in celebration, and the Africans rejoice as they have down the years. But whereas in former years the drums roused Africans to warfare and plundering, they tell today of a municipal success. For on this day the town of Kitwe has been raised to municipal status and for the first time Kitwe will have its own Mayor and Council - a fact which all the people of Kitwe are celebrating. To install the new Mayor comes the Acting Governor of Northern Rhodesia, Mr A. T. Williams, greeted by the Town Clerk, Mr S. W. Coleman. Proceeding inside he invested the Mayor, Councillor Maurice Gerah, a popular business man, prominent in the affairs of Kitwe for many years.
Celebrations continued in the afternoon and a procession of floats was started from outside of the Municipal offices by the Mayor. Kitwe had elected not only a Mayor, but a Carnival Queen, and not it was her turn to preside over the proceedings.
Led by the Northern Rhodesia Police Band the Procession toured the streets, fittingly enough, proclaiming Kitwe’s stirring story of Progress. In carnival mood, the town took stock of its many flourishing activities and enterprises. From Pioneering past to prosperous present it is a story of worthwhile achievement that has laid the foundations of a smiling future.

Keywords

Politics and government; Music and dance; Customs and traditions

Written sources

Movietone boxfile no.1   Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Central African Film Unit

Length of story (in feet)

142

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name

British Film Institute (BFI)

Email

For BFI National Archive enquiries:
nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk
For commercial/footage reuse enquiries:
footage.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7580 7503

Address

21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN

Notes

The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).

Series held

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