John Grierson : Documentary Film Maker

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. In what year was Grierson born? 1893 1902 1900 1898

2. Grierson was attracted to filmmaking by his post-graduate studies of mass media in the USA. However, what subject did he originally study at Glasgow University? Marketing Philosophy Divinity Teaching

3. During his time in the USA, he became a film critic and is credited with first using the term ‘documentary’ with regard to a film. To which film did he first apply this word? "Nanook of the North" (1922) "Moana" (1926) "The Twenty-four Dollar Island" (1927) "Man of Aran" (1934)

4. On his return to Britain in the late 1920s, Grierson became Assistant Films Officer at which organisation? Ealing Studios GPO Film Unit Empire Marketing Board Department of Public Information

5. Grierson’s first film was called "Drifters". It was produced in 1929 and documented the work of the Scottish herring fishing fleet. It premièred on a London double bill with which other classic film? The Battleship Potemkin The Four Feathers Blackmail The Broadway Melody

6. In 1933 Grierson joined the Post Office film unit, where he subsequently produced "Night Mail" (1936), one of the most famous of his works. It was the story of the Royal Mail express train from London to Edinburgh and was set to music by Benjamin Britten. Which poet wrote the commentary? W H Auden T S Eliot Dylan Thomas W B Yeats

7. In 1939 Grierson left Britain and moved back to North America and created which highly regarded documentary unit? The National Film Board of North America The National Film Board of America The National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of New York

8. Grierson left North America at the end of WWII – he was investigated for alleged “communist” sympathies. He went to work for UNESCO as the first Director of Mass Communications and Public Information – where was he based? London Paris Berlin Edinburgh

9. In the mid 1950s Grierson returned to Scotland and persuaded Roy Thomson, the Canadian millionaire who owned an independent TV station, to create which public affairs programme? The World Around Us This Wonderful World Before Your Very Eyes Your Life in their Hands

10. In his last few years Grierson was invited to lecture at which Canadian University? Concordia University University of Toronto McGill University University of Ottawa