Projections of America (2015) New York Jewish Film Festival 2016

This is the  story of the Projections of America films. These were a series of films which were used by the US government during the Second World War and after to explain to the countries we were going into who and what America and Americans are. The series was made by the Office of War Information, the same people who were producing films like Frank Capra's Why We Fight series. The series was put together by Robert Sherwood (Petrified Forest, Abe Lincoln in Illinois The Best Years of our Lives) and Robert Riskin (It Happened One Night, Thin Man Goes Home, Lost Horizon).

A very good documentary gives us the background of the films, the story of their creation and their effect upon the audiences who saw them.

You'll forgive me if this is brief because the film is nigh impossible to critique. A breezy no nonsense film it tells you everything you  need to know about the films and why their shunting to a back alley of film history is a real shame. Quite honestly these films deserve to be seen and discussed and not sort of looked at without the proper historical context.

A solid film and definitely worth your time.

The film is running with Autobiography of a Jeep, one of the most popular films of the series tomorrow. For tickets and more information go here.