Bell, MJ orcid.org/0000-0003-2845-7427 (2018) Rebuilding Britain: Women, Work, and Nonfiction Film, 1945–1970. Feminist Media Histories, 4 (4). pp. 33-56. ISSN 2373-7492
Abstract
Women's marginalization in the British feature film industry is well documented: gender discrimination, and sometimes overt segregation, shut most women out of senior creative roles after the introduction of sound. What has received less critical attention is their participation in nonfiction filmmaking, which offered women greater employment opportunities, especially in the decades after World War II as Britain rebuilt its economy. This article provides the first historical mapping of women's involvement in sponsored nonfiction filmmaking in Britain in the period between 1945 and 1970, using newly available statistical data from Britain's film trade union, the Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT). It also draws on oral histories, extant films, and specialist trade publications to outline two case studies, one featuring three editors, and the other a director (Sarah Erulkar) who between them produced, directed and edited more than two hundred shorts on topics ranging from mineshaft sinking to French cookery. It argues that evidence of women's creative agency in this sector offers new ways of thinking about film history.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: | |
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 by the Regents of the University of California. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Feminist Media Histories. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Britain; creative labor; editors; nonfiction film; Sarah Erulkar; trade unions |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Media & Communication (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Jul 2018 15:01 |
Last Modified: | 16 Nov 2020 16:21 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | University of California Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1525/fmh.2018.4.4.33 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:133381 |