Workers Film and Photo League (USA) facts for kids

The Workers Film and Photo League was a group of filmmakers, photographers, writers, and projectionists in the 1930s. They used films and photos to show important events and push for social changes, especially for workers' rights.

History of the Film League

The Workers Film and Photo League (WFPL) started in 1930. They made short documentary films, like news reports, about the labor movement in the United States. This included events like the National Hunger Marches in 1931 and 1932, where people marched to ask for help during tough economic times. They also filmed the Bonus March in 1932, when World War I veterans marched to Washington D.C. to ask for money they were owed.

These films were usually not shown in regular movie theaters. Instead, they were screened at events for workers' groups or political parties. Sometimes, they would be shown before films from Europe or the Soviet Union in theaters. In New York, the WFPL even started a school called the "Harry Alan Potamkin Film School." Its goal was to teach everyday people how to make films.

The group first connected with the Workers International Relief. They began by showing films to help raise money for workers who were on strike.

While the New York group was the most famous, other groups existed in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit. These groups also made and showed documentaries under the "Film and Photo League" name. Across the country, these leagues worked together loosely. They created visual messages that supported left-leaning ideas. Their work during the early years of the Great Depression helped create a new style of documentary film and photography that focused on social issues.

Many people have talked about the connection between the Workers Film and Photo League and Communism. Communism is a political idea about how society should be organized, often focusing on shared resources. While some members were Marxists or belonged to the Communist Party USA, the groups usually worked on their own. Most members were idealists who truly believed that documentary films were a powerful tool for bringing about big social changes.

In 1933, the word "Workers" was removed from the group's name, and the New York organization became simply the Film and Photo League (FPL). The FPL continued for another year in New York. Its photographers then formed a new group called the Photo League. Some filmmakers started their own independent film companies, while others created groups like Nykino and, later, the Frontier Film Group.

In other cities, like Chicago and Los Angeles, the Film and Photo League continued its activities throughout the 1930s.

Members of the Film League

New York Members

• Lester Balog
• Tom Brandon
• Sam Brody
• Robert Del Duca
• Arnold S. Eagle
• Leo Hurwitz
• Lewis Jacobs
• Vic Kandel
• Irving Lerner
• Jay Leyda
• Nancy Naumberg
• David Platt
• Harry Alan Potamkin
• Julian Roffman
• Leo Seltzer
• Ralph Steiner

Chicago Members

• Maurice Baillen
• Conrad Friberg, aka C.O. Nelson
• John Freitag
• Gordon Koster
• William Kruck
• John Masek
• Dr. William J. Twig

Detroit Members

• Joseph Hudyma
• Jack Auringer

San Francisco Members

• Lester Balog
• Otto Hagel
• Hansel Mieth

Los Angeles Members

• Louis Siminow

Films by the Film and Photo League

Many films made by the Film and Photo Leagues were unfortunately lost in a storage fire in New York in 1935. However, some films still exist today. You can find them at places like the Museum of Modern Art Film Study Center in New York, the Film Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. Researchers created a list of all their known films in the 1970s.

• National Hunger March
• Bonus March
• Detroit Ford Massacre
• Workers Newsreels
• Halsted Street
• The Great Depression
• Century of Progress
• Berry Strike

See also

• Proletarian Film League of Japan