Jill Craigie: Documentary, Realism and Histories of British Cinema
Professor Yvonne Tasker, our speaker, is Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Leeds. She gave this seminar on 3 November 2020 online to a large number of attendees from all over the globe.
This session will draw from an ongoing AHRC research project exploring the political and filmmaking life of Jill Craigie (1911-99). Focusing on Craigie’s work in documentary and realist modes of filmmaking during the 1940s, the talk will situate films such as Out of Chaos (1944), The Way We Live (1946) and Blue Scar (1949) in relation to Craigie’s filmmaking and her feminist/socialist politics. Focusing on the latter – Craigie’s only feature as director – in particular, the talk will explore some of the ways in which Craigie’s public persona was constructed during this period. It will also reflect on the ways in which Craigie might more effectively be included within accounts of British cinema history.
