Editing Documentary film (section)

=== 1930s–1940s ===
The propagandist tradition consists of films made with the explicit purpose of persuading an audience of a point. One of the most celebrated and controversial [[propaganda film]]s is [[Leni Riefenstahl]]'s film ''[[Triumph of the Will]]'' (1935), which chronicled the 1934 [[Nuremberg Rally|Nazi Party Congress]] and was commissioned by [[Adolf Hitler]]. Leftist filmmakers [[Joris Ivens]] and [[Henri Storck]] directed ''[[Misère au Borinage|Borinage]]'' (1931) about the Belgian coal mining region. [[Luis Buñuel]] directed a "[[surrealism|surrealist]]" documentary ''[[Land Without Bread|Las Hurdes]]'' (1933).

[[Pare Lorentz]]'s ''[[The Plow That Broke the Plains]]'' (1936) and ''[[The River (1938 film)|The River]]'' (1938) and [[Willard Van Dyke]]'s ''[[The City (1939 film)|The City]]'' (1939) are notable [[New Deal]] productions, each presenting complex combinations of social and ecological awareness, government propaganda, and leftist viewpoints. [[Frank Capra]]'s ''[[Why We Fight]]'' (1942–1944) series was a newsreel series in the United States, commissioned by the government to convince the U.S. public that it was time to go to war. [[Constance Bennett]] and her husband [[Henri de la Falaise]] produced two feature-length documentaries, ''[[Legong: Dance of the Virgins]]'' (1935) filmed in [[Bali]], and ''Kilou the Killer Tiger'' (1936) filmed in [[Indochina]].

In Canada, the [[National Film Board of Canada|Film Board]], set up by John Grierson, was set up for the same propaganda reasons. It also created newsreels that were seen by their national governments as legitimate counter-propaganda to the psychological warfare of [[Nazi]] Germany orchestrated by [[Joseph Goebbels]].

[[File:Basil Wright, Joris Ivens, Elmar Klos i Jerzy Toeplitz - Film nr 55-56 - 1948-12-23.JPG|thumb|Conference of "World Union of documentary films" in 1948 Warsaw featured famous directors of the era: [[Basil Wright]] (on the left), [[Elmar Klos]], [[Joris Ivens]] (2nd from the right), and [[Jerzy Toeplitz]].]]
In Britain, a number of different filmmakers came together under John Grierson. They became known as the [[Documentary Film Movement]]. Grierson, [[Alberto Cavalcanti]], [[Harry Watt (director)|Harry Watt]], [[Basil Wright]], and [[Humphrey Jennings]] amongst others succeeded in blending propaganda, information, and education with a more poetic aesthetic approach to documentary. Examples of their work include ''Drifters'' (John Grierson), ''[[Song of Ceylon]]'' (Basil Wright), ''[[Fires Were Started]]'', and ''[[A Diary for Timothy]]'' (Humphrey Jennings). Their work involved poets such as [[W. H. Auden]], composers such as [[Benjamin Britten]], and writers such as [[J. B. Priestley]]. Among the best known films of the movement are ''[[Night Mail]]'' and ''[[Coal Face]]''.

''Calling Mr. Smith'' (1943) is an anti-Nazi color film<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lux.org.uk/work/calling-mr-smith1|title=Calling Mr. Smith – LUX|website=lux.org.uk|access-date=25 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425234317/https://lux.org.uk/work/calling-mr-smith1|archive-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/resource/cAXbMp/rqGRLe9|title=Calling Mr Smith – Centre Pompidou|website=centrepompidou.fr|access-date=25 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131024033/https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/resource/cAXbMp/rqGRLe9|archive-date=31 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://artincinema.com/franciszka-and-stefan-themerson-calling-mr-smith-1943/|title=Franciszka and Stefan Themerson: Calling Mr. Smith (1943) – artincinema|date=21 June 2015|website=artincinema.com|access-date=25 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131024247/http://artincinema.com/franciszka-and-stefan-themerson-calling-mr-smith-1943/|archive-date=31 January 2018}}</ref> created by [[Stefan Themerson]] which is both a documentary and an avant-garde film against war. It was one of the first anti-Nazi films in history.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}