Basil Wright

Basil Wright was a documentary filmmaker film historian film critic and teacher During World War II Wright worked only as a producer first at John Griersons Film Centre before joining The Crown Film Unit between 1945 and 1946 as producerincharge Among the best known films he produced for Crown are Humphrey Jennings A Diary for Timothy 1946 and A Defeated People 1946 and Instruments of the Orchestra 1946 featuring Benjamin Brittens The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra1 Returning to direction in the early 1950s his films included Waters of Time 1951 made for the Festival of Britain World Without End 1953 directed with Paul Rotha for UNESCO and Greece The Immortal Land 1958 in collaboration with his friend the artist Michael Ayrton Writing throughout the 30s and 40s Basil Wright had contributed to the theoretical development of documentary in the movements journals Cinema Quarterly World Film News and Documentary Newsletter He was the film critic for The Spectator after Graham Greene left Wright was a regular contributor to the British Film Institutes Sight and Sound during the 1940s and 50s He published a small book The Uses of Film 1948 and his personal extensive history of cinema The Long View 1974 He taught at the University of Southern California 1962 and 1968 The National Film and Television School in London 197173 and Temple University in Philadelphia 197778 He was Governor of the British Film Institute a fellow of the British Film Academy and President of the International Association of Documentary Filmmakers In his films Wright combined an ability to look closely and carefully at a subject with a poetic and often experimental approach to editing and sound In Britain he is commemorated with a film prize awarded biennially by the Royal Anthropological Institute