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 what was happening in society and to help make things better for people.
Contents
A Look Back: The Film and Photo League's Story
The Workers Film and Photo League (WFPL) began in 1930. They created short documentary films, like news reports, about important events for workers in the United States. For example, they filmed the National Hunger Marches in 1931 and 1932, and the Bonus March in 1932. These marches were when people protested for more help during tough economic times.
These films were usually not shown in regular movie theaters. Instead, they were screened at events for workers' groups or political parties. Sometimes, if they were shown in theaters, they would play before films from places like Europe or the Soviet Union. In New York, the WFPL even started a special school called the "Harry Alan Potamkin Film School." This school taught working-class people how to make films.
The group first connected with an organization called the Workers International Relief. They started by showing films at events to raise money for workers who were on strike.
The most well-known part of the WFPL was in New York. However, other groups in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit also made and showed documentaries. These groups were all part of a loose network called the "Film and Photo League." They created visual messages to support their ideas. Their work during the early years of the Great Depression helped create a new style of documentary film and photography.
Many people have talked about the connection between the Workers Film and Photo League and Communism. While some members were Marxists or part of the Communist Party USA, the groups usually worked on their own. Most members were idealists who believed that documentary films were a very important way to bring about big social changes.
In 1933, the word "Workers" was dropped from the name, and the New York group became simply the Film and Photo League (FPL). The FPL continued for another year in New York. After that, its photographers formed a new group called the Photo League. Some filmmakers started their own private film companies. Others created groups like Nykino, and later, the Frontier Film Group.
In other cities, such as Chicago and Los Angeles, the Film and Photo League continued its activities throughout the 1930s.
Who Were the Members?
Many talented people were part of the Workers Film and Photo League. Here are some of them:
New York
- 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
- Maurice Baillen
- Conrad Friberg, aka C.O. Nelson
- John Freitag
- Gordon Koster
- William Kruck
- John Masek
- Dr. William J. Twig
Detroit
- Joseph Hudyma
- Jack Auringer
San Francisco
- Lester Balog
- Otto Hagel
- Hansel Mieth
Los Angeles
- Louis Siminow
What Films Did They Make?
Sadly, many of the films made by the Film and Photo Leagues were lost in a storage fire in New York in 1935. However, some films still exist! 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 their films in the 1970s.
Here are some of the films they made:
- National Hunger March
- Bonus March
- Detroit Ford Massacre
- Workers Newsreels
- Halsted Street
- The Great Depression
- Century of Progress
- Berry Strike
