Professor of History Maurice Isserman and F.I.L.M Director Scott MacDonald will present three landmark films and discuss them with the audience on two afternoons this month in the Kirner-Johnson Auditorium. These programs are offered in conjunction with the current Emerson Gallery exhibition, "WPA Artists: Prints from the Amity Art Foundation." On Wednesday, Nov. 1, Hands (1934) and The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936) will be screened at 4:15 p.m. On Wednesday, Nov. 15, The River (1937) will be screened at 4:15 p.m.
During the 1930s, the Roosevelt Administration decided to take advantage of the capacity of film to provide audiences with important information about government policies and the reasoning behind them. Financial backing was made available to documentary filmmakers under the auspices of the Works Projects Administration (WPA), the Resettlement Administration, the Farm Security Administration and the U.S. Film Service. Some of the nation's most accomplished filmmakers became involved in the documentation of these programs, and the films they produced had considerable impact on American citizens and on the subsequent history of documentary filmmaking. The Emerson Gallery exhibition features 30 prints produced by artists who worked with the printmaking programs of the WPA.
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| Scott MacDonald |
Hands (4 minutes) is directed by Ralph Steiner and produced by the Works Projects Administration. The Plow That Broke the Plains (28 minutes) was written and directed by Pare Lorenz for the Resettlement Administration. The River (30 minutes) was written and directed by Pare Lorenz for the Farm Security Administration.
