|
A Crofter's Life in Shetland (1931) was the
first film made by Jenny Brown, with a second hand 16mm cine camera on which she
taught herself the rudiments of photography and editing. She stayed with crofter
friends in Shetland while shooting scenes through the changing seasons during
1930-1931. The intimacy she established with her hosts, who are the subjects of
the film, clearly comes through.
Once completed, Brown arranged a screening in
London and somewhat audaciously invited John Grierson to attend. Grierson came,
saw, and was impressed: "Miss Jenny Brown has made a picture of the Shetlands.
It is her first picture, and she has made it very daringly by herself without
any professional assistance whatsoever. For a solo effort it is an extraordinary
job of work. It not only gives you very beautiful pictures of Shetland but it
gets down to the life of the crofters and fishermen, and brings the naturalness
of it. Miss Brown has already broken through the curse of artificiality and is
on the way to becoming a real film maker, a real illuminator of life and
movement." A creative relationship ensued between the two, culminating in the
production the following year of a further five short films for Grierson and
later The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric (1934).
Kenneth Broom
|
Extract (2:49)
