Before Hindsight.

A widely acclaimed examination of the way the rise of Nazi Germany was portrayed on British newsreels of the time. Before Hindsight indicts both the Government attitudes of the day and the context with which we still view the films.

Britain in the 1930's held an official belief in peaceful co-existence. It would not do therefore to allow the people to learn something of the reasons why this policy was dangerous, or why Germany was not the civilised nation she pretended overseas to be. One of the more pertinent parts of this film shows that the Government was able to persuade Movietone (who made most of the shorts shown in Britain) not to release film proving the growth of concentration camps prior to the war. The company explanation was the people wanted entertainment, not enlightenment.

The film raises the important question of the function of news programmes today, suggesting that the "play it safe" policy is still prevalent. The fact that the current UN Conference on Nuclear Disarmament has been given virtually no coverage is a case in point. Peaceful co-existence/detente fans should find much to sing the praises of in such an event. Yet it is becoming so obvious,(in Africa and all over the world) that detente is only a smokescreen for increased military build-up by the two superpowers that the pro-detente news media can do nothing except keep quiet. This film may be much more about our present situation than many people would like to think.