The British Co-Operative Movement Film Catalogue (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780313305658)

The British consumer Co-operative movement pioneered the use of film for industrial and propaganda purposes. A powerful association of working-class consumers, the movement embraced the potential of cinema and used it to help articulate an ideology expounding the ideals of mutuality, equality, and democracy, and seeking to transform a capitalist society founded on individualism and selfish-help into the Co-operative Commonwealth. This book provides an extensive, detailed catalogue of more than 300 films relating to the movement. Technical details, credits, a synopsis, and historical and critical evaluations are given for each title. Numerous films, previously unknown or believed to be lost, have been traced.

The catalogue is prefaced by a substantial introductory essay which provides a contextual framework for a consideration of the movement and its use of film. The book is supplemented by a selection of articles, publications, and reports which appeared in the movement's contemporary press, and which reveal the genuine concern to use cinema to assist in the task of making Co-operators. This catalogue will be invaluable to students of social, labor, and business history and to film and media historians who wish to broaden their knowledge of non-commercial film. It also serves as a guide for contemporary filmmakers and television researchers to this extensive collection of archive film.

Author: Alan Burton
ISBN-10: 031330565X
ISBN-13: 9780313305658
Publisher: Greenwood
Language: English
Published: 08/07/1997
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.63d