Visions of Change

Discuss releases by the BFI and the films on them.

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swo17
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Visions of Change

#1 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:45 am

Image Image
VISIONS OF CHANGE VOLUME ONE: THE BBC (3-disc DVD set)

This three-disc collection brings together a carefully curated selection of rarely-seen BBC TV productions by the leading documentary filmmakers of their day to create an essential survey of early British TV documentaries.

Collecting together nearly 10 hours worth of material, this long-overdue collection brings together works by such influential directors as Philip Donnellan, Ken Russell and Dennis Potter, and provides a fascinating insight into the cultural and social historical landscape of two of the most formative decades in post-war Britain.

Titles
Henry Moore (1951, John Read) | The World is Ours: The Waiting People (1954, Norman Swallow) | Eye to Eye: Night in the City (1957, Denis Mitchell) | Song of the Valley (1957, John Schlesinger) | Joe the Chainsmith (1958, Philip Donnellan) | Eye on Research: Test Flight (1959, Philip Daly) | Morning in the Streets (1959, Denis Mitchell) | This Is the BBC (1959, Richard Cawston) | Between Two Rivers (1960, Dennis Potter) | The Prizewinners (1962, Philip Daly) | Monitor: Pop Goes the Easel (1962, Ken Russell) | The Colony (1964, Philip Donnellan) | Landmarks: The Last Refuge (1965, Richard Marquand) | Dispute (Round 1; Round 2) (1967, Jack Gold, Ken Ashton, Paul Watson)
VISIONS OF CHANGE VOLUME TWO: ITV (2-disc DVD set)

This indispensable two disc collection contains over 6 hours worth of programmes made during the 1950s and 60s for the independent TV channels by leading documentary filmmakers of their day.

Bringing together work by award winning directors such as Peter Morley (director of the shocking Fan Fever), Philip Donnelly (whose motto was giving a voice to the people) and Michael Grigsby (whose career spanned six decades in which he explored a great many subjects in a uniquely humane way), this collection provides access to an era of great change in Britain.

Titles
Fan Fever (1958, Peter Morley) | This Week 416: The Satire Boom (1963, Randal Beattie) | This Week: The Negro Next Door (1965, Peter Robinson) | Walk Down Any Street (1965, Charlie squires) | Inside the Foreign Office (1967, James Butler) | A Wedding on Saturday (1964, Norman Swallow) | The Entertainers (1964, John McGrath) | The Dream Machine (1964, Denis Mitchell) | Deckie Learner (1965, Michael Grigsby)

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zedz
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Re: Visions of Change

#2 Post by zedz » Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:46 pm

Wow! A worthy and exciting addition to the BFI's previous big documentary sets (Free Cinema, the GPO sets, Land of Promise, Shadows of Progress - all of which should be the cornerstone of any serious collection of British film).

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Visions of Change

#3 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:01 pm

And also It's great to finally get some Denis Mitchell in prisitine nick.

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MichaelB
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Re: Visions of Change

#4 Post by MichaelB » Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:04 am

This is a major release - and, if I remember rightly, it was already in its early stages when I left the BFI, so it's been gestating for over four years.

Which suggests that curatorial standards will be as high as ever.

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thirtyframesasecond
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Re: Visions of Change

#5 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:37 am

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:And also It's great to finally get some Denis Mitchell in prisitine nick.
I agree, I can't find his early work anywhere!

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thirtyframesasecond
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Re: Visions of Change

#6 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:38 am

And the Colony too! This looks a terrific set.

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MichaelB
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Re: Visions of Change

#7 Post by MichaelB » Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:40 am

I think if you had to pick a single Ken Russell from that period, Pop Goes the Easel is probably as good as anything. Especially since it wasn't included on the Ken Russell at the BBC compilation and I believe this is its DVD premiere.

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MichaelB
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Re: Visions of Change

#8 Post by MichaelB » Mon Nov 16, 2015 7:34 am

Full specs announced:
Visions of Change
The Evolution of the British TV Documentary
Volume 1: BBC 1951-1967

After the Land of Promise and Shadows of Progress DVD box sets, the BFI continues its re-evaluation of the British documentary tradition with Visions of Change, an extensive collection of television films made during the 1950s and 1960s, released on 14 December 2015.

Produced by the BBC, these now rarely-seen documentaries reveal how the medium of television allowed filmmakers to approach their subjects in new and exciting ways, creating work which was deeply personal, socially engaged and formally innovative.

Covering a range of topics, and including films by such influential directors as Denis Mitchell, Philip Donnellan, Ken Russell, Dennis Potter and John Schlesinger, Visions of Change provides a fascinating insight into the socio-cultural landscape of two of the most formative decades in the history of post-war Britain.

The programme makers were inspired by the changing face of city streets to capture portraits of life in Britain in different ways, while arts and sciences provided the subject matter for an explosion of factual series in a time of social, cultural and technological upheaval. These programmes were watched by millions of people and made household names of their filmmakers and presenters.

This 2-disc set collects together over 6 hours of material and will appeal as much to anyone with an interest in British social history and 50s/60s culture as to those with an interest in the history of television itself.

Disc One

Henry Moore (1951, John Read)
Eye to Eye: Night in the City (1957, Denis Mitchell)
Tonight: Song of the Valley (1957, John Schlesinger)
Joe the Chainsmith (1958, Philip Donnellan)
Eye on Research: Test Flight (1959, Philip Daly, Tom Millett)
Morning in the Streets (1959, Denis Mitchell, Roy Harris)
Between Two Rivers (1960, Dennis Potter)

Disc Two

Monitor: Pop Goes the Easel (1962, Ken Russell)
The Colony (1964, Philip Donnellan)
Dispute: Round 1 (1967, Jack Gold, Ken Ashton, Paul Watson)
Dispute: Round 2 (1967, Jack Gold, Ken Ashton, Paul Watson)

Product details

RRP: £34.99/ Cat. no. BFIV2068 / Cert E

UK / 1951 – 1967 / black and white / English language, with hard-of-hearing subtitles / DVD9 x 2 / 182 mins + 200 mins / Ratio 1.33:1 / Dolby Digital audio (192kbps)

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tenia
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Re: Visions of Change

#9 Post by tenia » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:18 am

Just seen the 2nd volume has been pushed back to March 2016.

didi-5
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Re: Visions of Change

#10 Post by didi-5 » Mon Oct 17, 2016 3:06 am

Do we know the fate of volume 2? We are fast approaching March 2017 and still no release date confirmed.

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thirtyframesasecond
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Re: Visions of Change

#11 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Thu Mar 02, 2017 6:16 am

Michael Grigsby made a whole host of interesting looking documentaries for ITV. I wish someone compiled these together and released them. There must be a number of documentary filmmakers whose work for television is never seen anymore - a huge shame.

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DeprongMori
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Re: Visions of Change

#12 Post by DeprongMori » Sat Jun 10, 2023 8:52 pm

Did Visions of Change, Volume Two: ITV, 1958–1967 ever get issued?

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MichaelB
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Re: Visions of Change

#13 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:12 am

No, and I believe the project has now been scrapped.

This is pure guesswork on my part, but it may have fallen victim to a policy change at ITV whereby they'll only consider licensing out large bulk deals to boutique labels. I first became aware of this in early 2016 when I tried to license the South Bank Show about the Taviani Brothers shooting Kaos, which would have been an amazing extra for Arrow's Taviani box - but ITV was adamant that they wouldn't allow me to cherry-pick just one title from their catalogue. Not even having the programme's original producer/director firmly and enthusiastically on board could persuade them to budge.

Hence Network being the only UK boutique with an ITV deal, as they were the only label with the resources to be able to focus a pretty huge percentage of their output on ITV-licensed titles.

Gallingly, this covers more than just ITV's television library - ITV also owns the libraries of many of the great twentieth-century British film studios, including Gainsborough, London Films and Rank. Which is why those titles were also only released by Network and, very occasionally, by ITV themselves.

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