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A Glimpse into Britain’s Past — and into the Future of Film
by • May 09, 2012 •
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In 2012, it’s become a given that our lives will be documented online — in every medium possible, and preferably all at once. Last week, we took one step closer to documenting the past online, as well, when 120 short documentaries from the British Film Institute National Archive were made available on the British Council’s website.
These films, which were originally commissioned by the British Council in the 1940s and distributed through the 1960s, range from quirky to exotic, educational to entertaining. Shot and shown against the backdrop of a rapidly changing global landscape, the reels featuring equal parts town and country were meant to capture and showcase contemporary Britain at work, at play, and at war. Yet in their spirit and content, these pieces (which run on average between 10-15 minutes) provide a glimpse back in time for Brits and global audience alike.
Falling into a variety of categories that highlight both people and places, the mix of grainy black and white and Technicolor recordings offer an unparalleled glimpse into a past we have somehow all come to know. Amongst the selected clips are “life history” style science films, which take up the task of describing agricultural goods like onions, maize, and native animals such as the rabbit. The look and feel of these short documentaries are so steeped in our collective memory of the past that one cannot help but view them with a mix of appreciation and amusement. Another clip about the “Morning Paper” traces the lifecycle of the newspaper production; the tone and topic recalling the modern day short series The Hour. Others still, such as the Technicolor “Border Weave,” or “How a Bicycle is Made,” capture British industry on the cusp of mass production.
In addition to the digitized film clips, the site features trivia facts as well as descriptions, background information, and critical metadata for researchers and archivists. While specific to Britain, these short films recollect a time of reel to reel movies and low-fi animation that people of many generations have come to know and love. These films were produced with the aim of inciting a desire to understand the world and learn the things in it, and perhaps even come to know our own position, too. Still today, their simple style rings true.
In a time before 24-hour online distribution, one could imagine the films being shipped around the globe and shown everywhere from dimly lit classrooms to small glowing cinemas. But today, the films have a new visibility, and with it a new audience. In conjunction with the archive, over the summer of 2012 a global competition will challenge viewers to recreate the films to their terms by altering, editing, and combining the clips that have been made available. Though the content of the films now seems nostalgic, the call for remix and reinterpretation ushers these cultural archives into the 21st century.
All of which goes to show that, in the age of Google, creating platforms for exciting intersections of culture and digital technology are as much about looking forward as they are about looking back. Past and present are collapsing into one another – and the future has never looked so exciting.
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Asking the Tough Questions About Cultural Relations
by • May 02, 2012 •
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Georgetown University students with British Council CEO Martin Davidson and Dr. Jo Beall, Head of Education and Society.
Looking out on the Potomac River from a conference room perched atop the library, a group of Georgetown University students shared aspirations and interests that reached far beyond Washington, DC. The students took a break from studying for their final exams for a discussion with our CEO Martin Davidson and Dr. Jo Beall, who directs our work in education and society, organized by the Georgetown Office of Fellowships, Awards and Research. Their majors ranged from science, technology, and international affairs to culture and politics to business, and their international experience spanned the globe, though none had yet finished their undergraduate degrees. Many had studied or worked in the UK, Latin America, Russia, and elsewhere, and some had post-graduation plans to go abroad again, including a Marshall Scholar headed to Imperial College and two others going to Kosovo to teach English. A number had already studied abroad in the UK at Oxford and the London School of Economics.
So what burning questions are on the minds of the next generation’s leaders? Many of the students’ interests lay at the intersection of culture and policy, particularly in countries with governments in transition. Not surprisingly, their inquiries about our work in the British Council hit upon some of the tough questions that get to the heart of what we do. Take the first question: Does the British Council encounter any tension between working to build trust with other countries when there are enough needs to attend to in the UK? This could be a semester-long subject for debate in a class on foreign aid. Nevertheless, Martin Davidson offered a succinct observation in reply: that it is exactly through building trust-filled relationships with other countries that the UK gains access to emerging and established economies to guarantee its own long-term prosperity.
As an organization that operates at arm’s length from government, we’re in a unique position at the British Council, so one student asked how we balanced “government-to-government relations with people-to-people relations.” While it may indeed be a balancing act at times, we benefit from the fact that we have “a perception of the values and the way of life” held in the UK, as Martin said, as well as a deep understanding of the societies in which we work internationally. Whether we’re working in the US or Libya, in order for our work to succeed, we have to listen to what people there are saying and understand what they want out of life, Martin observed.
Perhaps there were some budding public sector leaders among the group, because one question hit on the practical challenge of raising the funds to deliver our work, as our government grant covers only a small fraction of what we do. It may require a bit of ingenuity to develop new partnerships with other organizations, governments, and corporate partners and to sustain our English-teaching business, but in the end, Martin underscored that securing financial backing is merely a means to a better end: “We have to ensure the work we do is also delivering public good.”
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100 Days to Go
by • Apr 18, 2012 •
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The British Council team sets off for the Embassy Olympics.
Ready, set…
Go! As the 2012 Olympic Games approach, the UK is pulling out all the stops to welcome the world’s athletes this summer. Here at the British Council in the US, we’re also doing our part to represent Britain’s best. To mark the 100-day countdown to London 2012, we’re joining our colleagues at the British Embassy at American University in for some friendly competition against our neighbors along Washington’s Embassy Row. With events including the 100-meter dash, a relay, shotput, basketball, and penalty kicks, we’re hoping to bring home the gold and excited to spend some time with our colleagues from the U.S. State Department and the embassies of Germany, Greece, Australia, and others.
Today’s afternoon adventures aside, it’s certainly not just our inter-office athletic prowess that has us excited about the Olympics. The Games are also a great opportunity to showcase the diversity of British arts and to bring people from around the world together through cultural celebrations. The British Council has been up to a lot in 2012, and in the weeks leading up to the Games, we have a number of cultural events to forward to!
The Cultural Olympiad and its culminating London 2012 Festival are at the heart of the artistic and cultural activity preceding the Olympic Games. Here are just a few of the cultural events that the British Council will be taking part in during the weeks preceding the Games:
- * Wild Swans, a joint production of two American and British theatres, is running at the Young Vic from April 13 – May 13 as part of the World Stages Festival.
- * The World Shakespeare Festival kicks off April 23. (Read more about how our friends at L.A.’s Inner-City Arts got involved!)
- * World Olympic Dreams has been connecting classrooms around the world with those in the UK and with athletes from their home countries. US classrooms based in New Jersey and Iowa and are taking their inspiration from basketball player Luol Deng, a Sudanese refugee who plays for the Chicago Bulls during the NBA season and will play for Great Britain in the Games, and gymnast Shawn Johnson, a gold and silver medallist from Iowa.
- * River of Music will feature performances from top musical artists around the world on the banks of the River Thames during the weekend before the Opening Ceremony.
- * Big Dance will celebrate dance in public events throughout the UK during the London 2012 Festival.
- * Unlimited will present collaborations between disability arts organisations, disabled and deaf artists, producers, and mainstream organisations.
- * English for the Games integrates facts about the Olympic and Paralympic Games’ history, sports and values into our Learn English through videos, articles, and more.
As the Cultural Olympiad and the Olympic Games approach, we’ll spotlight more collaborations between the US and the UK, so stay tuned for more!
And if you’re involved in a transatlantic project that relates to the Olympics, let us know so that we can showcase your work or cheer you on.
