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"Are you proud to be British?" : Mobile film shows, local voices and the demise of the British Empire in Africa

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Rice_2015_HJFRT_Proud_AM.pdf (538.0Kb)
Date
2016
Author
Rice, Tom
Keywords
British Empire
Sub-Saharan African cinema
Colonial cinema
Mobile film shows
Audiences
Exhibition
Film commentator
Colonial film unit
PN1993 Motion Pictures
BDC
R2C
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Abstract
The Colonial Film Unit (CFU) (1939–1955) produced over 200 films, which were exhibited non-theatrically to African audiences through its fleet of mobile cinema vans. While the CFU closely monitored, and theorised on, its film texts, the particular ways in which these films were exhibited and received was afforded far less attention and remains critically overlooked by scholars. In this article, I examine the development of the mobile film show across a range of colonial territories. The London-based CFU sought to standardise film exhibition across the empire, imagining these film shows as political events, as a means of monitoring, addressing and homogenising disparate groups of colonial subjects. The regulation of film space can be understood within this context as part of the broader effort to regulate colonial space. Integral to this process was the local commentator, an often-overlooked figure within African cinema. The local commentator would organise the film show, provide additional talks, answer questions, counter unrest and recontextualise the films for local audiences, often without any direct European supervision. In examining government reports, personal interviews and, in particular, a series of audience surveys, the article repositions the commentator as a pivotal presence in the latter years of empire; a rising voice within African cultural and political life.
Citation
Rice , T 2016 , ' "Are you proud to be British?" : Mobile film shows, local voices and the demise of the British Empire in Africa ' , Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television , vol. 36 , no. 3 , pp. 331-351 . https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2015.1049863
Publication
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2015.1049863
ISSN
0143-9685
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright 2015 IAMHIST & Taylor & Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television on 03/06/2015, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01439685.2015.1049863
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9927

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