Drifters

The silent documentary is about Britain’s North Sea herring fishery. The camera follows the whole chain, from the preparation of the nets to putting to sea, from the night long haul to the fish being landed and entering the market, and presents the fishermen’s work not as heroism but as regular, heavy labour. The editing openly uses montage, setting images beside one another with an eye on rhythm, and that form is taken as an answer to the avant garde cinema of the period. John Grierson’s forty nine minute British film was made for the Empire Marketing Board and was the only feature he personally directed. It was shown on 10 November 1929 at the London Film Society on the same programme as Battleship Potemkin, and is taken as the start of the British documentary movement.