''The Save The Children Fund Film'' is a 50-minute British documentary from

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

directed by Ken Loach and produced by Tony Garnett. Originally known as ''In Black and White'', It was commissioned by London Weekend Television on behalf of the charity Save the Children.Stephen Lace
''Tony Garnett''
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007, p.79

Synopsis

The film is about the work of Save the Children, a British-based charity working for children around the world. This film looks at examples of the charity's work in England and Africa – the

Starehe Boys Centre and School Starehe Boys' Centre and School (popularly known as "Starehe") is a partial-board, boys-only school in Nairobi, Kenya. The school was founded in 1959 by Dr. Geoffrey William Griffin, MBS, OBE, Geoffrey Gatama Geturo and Joseph Kamiru Gikubu. It ...

in Kenya. According to Garnett's biographer Stephen Lacey, the film-makers objected to what they saw as the charity's "neo-

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 a ...

attitude towards indigenous cultures". In the film, director Ken Loach visits an institution in Nairobi where children were forbidden to converse in their native tongues. Several Save the Children employees were also on film making disparaging remarks about the parents of young Mancunians in their charge.

Ban

Save the Children objected to the film and refused to pay for it. They prevented it from being shown until

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, when they eventually agreed to allow a screening by the BFI. Kestrel Films, co-founded by Tony Garnett and others, nearly went bankrupt in their legal battle with Save the Children. There was a screening at the University of Birmingham in 2014, at the University of Bristol in 2015 and one at the University of Warwick in 2017. The screening at Warwick was followed by a panel discussion, which was attended by the then Head of Humanitarian Affairs of Save the Children UK. A copy of the film is held at the BFI archives and it can be viewed (for free) by visiting a BFI mediatheque and booking time on one of the viewers there.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Save the Children Fund Film, The 1971 films 1971 documentary films Films directed by Ken Loach Films set in Manchester Films set in Nairobi Save the Children London Weekend Television shows Films shot in Greater Manchester Film controversies in the United Kingdom