75th Anniversary of the Central Office of Information [read more]
Imagine the pandemic public information films they could have made
To mark the 75th anniversary of the Central Office of Information (COI), the BFI, The National Archives and Imperial War Museums (IWM) are coming together to showcase the broad and eclectic range of work produced by the department. From the Charley Says (1973) public information film series and classic safety films like Lonely Water (1973) and Apaches (1977), to the controversial AIDS awareness campaign, the COI produced some iconic screen moments during its fascinating history. The BFI, The National Archives and IWM have worked together for decades to help preserve the work of the COI, with each archive now selecting material to help tell its story through a series of collaborative events taking place over the rest of the year to celebrate #COI75.
Anniversary celebrations launch with a BFI At Home event on 23 June (19:00, BFI YouTube), a whistle-stop introductory tour of the work of the COI and the diversity of its output and its impact, with illustrated film clips and insights from curators Patrick Russell (Senior Curator, BFI National Archive), Sarah Castagnetti (Visual Collections Manager, The National Archives) and Michelle Kirby (Film Curator, IWM).
Focusing on the four key areas; safety, health, recruitment and migration the compilation includes:
Jet Propelled Germs (1948) - Richard Massingham's film about the dangers of uncontrolled sneezing
Life in Her Hands (1951) - Kathleen Byron (Black Narcissus) stars in this nursing recruitment B-movie that employs all the techniques of postwar 'women’s picture' melodrama to reach its demographic target
Understanding Aggression (1960) - Margaret Thomson’s eye-opening drama-doc, originally used in psychiatric nursing training
Smoking and You (1963) - This educational school programme, the first official anti-smoking campaign film was aimed at young adults
The Smoking Machine (1964) Sarah Erulkar's anti-smoking film warns primary school age children about the drawbacks of cigarettes
Moslems in Britain (1964) A series of interviews about life in the capital with Egyptian Muslims living and studying in London
A Matter of Choice (1965) A peek into the glamorous world and responsibilities awaiting those entering the Women's Royal Air Force, with promises of travel and a hint of sexual freedom
The New Men (1965) A recruitment film highlighting the importance of RAF ground crew, going all out to pique the interest of male viewers
Timepiece (1966) Aspirational round-the-world, round-the-clock view of life in the RAF
Return To Life (1960) John Krish's deeply compassionate documentary on the resettlement of refugees in Britain; made to mark World Refugee Year 1959.
Insaaf (1971), Partly filmed in Urdu and made for the Race Relations Board, aimed at informing Britain's South Asian community of the Board's role in enforcing the 1968 Race Relations Act
Never Go With Strangers (1971) This hard-hitting warning against 'stranger danger' was considered too distressing to be broadcast on television
Talk About Work (1971) - Shot by the now legendary DOP Chris Menges and directed by Ken Loach, this unscripted public information film, made for the youth employment service, eschews traditional modes of sponsored filmmaking for televisual directness
Lonely Water (1973) - The stuff of nightmares, this terrifying film narrated by Donald Pleasence, presents the horrific consequences of playing in or near rivers, ponds and other water hazard
Strangers (1973) - One of the iconic Charley Says animated films, with Charley the Cat, voiced by Kenny Everett, warning of stranger danger
London Line: African Student Families (1975) - Presented by future Labour MP and peer Paul Boateng, this edition of London Line, a cinemagazine screened to audiences abroad, looks at the support available in London for Nigerian students and their families
Apaches (1977) - Directed by The Long Good Friday’s John Mackenzie, this grisly public safety film depicts six children being picked off one-by-one by deadly farming machinery
AIDS - Monolith (1987) Directed by Nic Roeg and narrated by John Hurt, this hard-hitting, controversial film was part of the first major UK AIDS awareness campaign aimed at combating the growing spread of HIV/AIDS
To coincide with the BFI At Home event BFI, The National Archives and IWM will roll out the first of a series of joint curated blogs across the rest of the year on each of their websites, exploring specific themes and COI campaigns in more depth, incorporating materials from each collection.
