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Amateur film-maker and bank manager Charles Chistlett from Rotherham made over 100 films between 1935 and 1960, many of which are now held in the Yorkshire Film Archive. He made films of his family holidays (including 'Dale Days' (1942)), filmed a staged bank robbery in his own bank and filmed his journey as a passenger on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary. He also made films for his church aid society and in the late 1940s was commissioned by the society to make a film of St George’s Church in Leeds which provided, and still provides, beds for the homeless. This film shows the poverty of the back streets of Leeds in the 1940s as well as the work of the church. The film was intended to help raise money for the church's charitable work and Chistlett gave a live commentary on it when he showed the film in churches in the region, changing the commentary according to the audiences. This film has been written about by Heather Norris Nicholson, in the collection of essays on archive film ‘You can’t see what you don’t know: Amateur film as evidence’. Edited by Piet van Wijk for the Association Européenne Inédits Colloquium in 1994. This film shows the more serious side of amateur collections and includes rare images of working class life from an amateur film-makers perspective. The Yorkshire Film Archive has other amateur material which illustrates the range of subjects covered by amateur film-making such as family holidays, local events and many other topics. |
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