The documentary tradition
Philip Donnellan's importance to the development of TV documentary and our social understanding of post-war Britain cannot be underestimated.
His BBC film The Colony (1964) which explored the lives of migrant communities in Birmingham was reshown as part of the BBC's 'Black and White in Colour' series while a similar feature The Irishmen (1965) is circulating amongst the Irish community in Britain (see http://www.irishinbritain.com), and was recently exhibited by the Northampton Connolly Association. Following his death in 1999, the National Film Theatre hosted a six night retrospective tribute in February 2001.
The NFT retrospective claimed him as 'a remarkable television producer and film maker, whose work created poetic realism worthy of Humphrey Jennings with a concern for social reform passionate in his determination to provide a platform for the 'grossly ignored'.
These pages will continue to expand upon and explore the neglected place of Donnellan in the documentary tradition. In the meantime we will attempt to direct those interested in Documentary filmmaking to useful resources such as Documentary Box. This journal covers recent trends in making and thinking about documentaries. Four issues are published every two years in both hard copy and internet versions - http://www.yidff.jp/docbox/docbox-e.html.
