The Story of British Propaganda Film

Scott Anthony, Mark Duguid (British Film Institute UK), Patrick Russell (British Film Institute UK)

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English

BFI Publishing
31 October 2024

Films, movies & cinema; Film theory & criticism; Media studies; Political control & freedoms; Propaganda

Series: British Screen Stories

‘All art is propaganda,’ wrote George Orwell, ‘but not all propaganda is art.’ Moving from World War I to the ‘War on Terror’ and beyond, The Story of British Propaganda Film shows how the emergence of film as a global media phenomenon reshaped practices of propaganda, while new practices of propaganda in turn reshaped the use of the moving image. It explores classic examples of cinematic propaganda such as The Battle of the Somme (1916), Listen to Britain (1942) and Animal Farm (1954) alongside little-known newsreels, ‘telemagazines’ and digital media initiatives, in the process challenging our understanding of propaganda itself, and its many diverse manifestations.

Richly illustrated with unique material from the BFI National Archive, the book shows how central propaganda is to the development of British film, and how it has filtered our understanding of modern British history, from narratives of decolonisation to the celebration of pop culture and the meanings of the postwar consensus. In a contemporary moment so preoccupied with misinformation, malinformation and disinformation, Scott Anthony explains why the response to the ubiquity of the propaganda film has often turned out to be the production of ever more propaganda.

By: Scott Anthony
Edited by: Mark Duguid (British Film Institute UK), Patrick Russell (British Film Institute UK)
Imprint: BFI Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 170mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781839021350
ISBN 10: 1839021357
Series: British Screen Stories
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 31 October 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Scott Anthony is Deputy Head of Research at the UK Science Museum Group. His books include Night Mail (BFI Film Classics, 2007), Public Relations and the Making of Modern Britain (Manchester University Press, 2012) and the co-edited volume The Projection of Britain: A History of the GPO Film Unit (BFI, 2012). His novel Changi was published by Penguin and he has written for the BBC, The Guardian, The Times, The Critic, Tribune, and the LRB Blog among many others.

Reviews for The Story of British Propaganda Film

Deeply researched, smartly written, and admirably capacious, this engaging book spans a century without losing site of the fascinating people, films, and ideas that have shaped Britain’s view of itself and its place on the world stage. Scott Anthony brings both deep knowledge and a keen storyteller’s eye to this vital story of film’s enduring power to persuade. Let yourself be convinced that the history of British propaganda film is also an important history of Britain itself. -- Brian Jacobson, author of The Cinema of Extractions and Studios Before the System: Architecture, Technology, and the Emergence of Cinematic Space