The British Entertainment History Project

Forename/s:

Marie

Family name:

Richman

Work area/craft/role:

Company:

Industry:

Interview Number:

437

Interview Date(s):

9 Jul 1998

Interviewer/s:

Production Media:

Duration (mins):

105

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Interview

Interview notes

Behp0437-geoffreyandmarie-richman-summary

[These notes cover a mix of names, films and activities referred to in the interview; these are [originally] left wing/socialist film makers usually working with short films and ‘trigger’ films, often on health education or political issues. DS]

Tape one, SIDE ONE

G.R. Born 1932 in Leeds; Marie, born 1934 father hospital porter. Met through a common interest in music, married in 1954, have three children. GR joined the Communist Party and the Young Communist League (YCL) when a medical student. He is the senior partner of a practice of 4. Joined the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) in 1967. In 1968 he was honorary chairman, Marie was Hon. Treasurer of North West London VSC. Met Tony Wickert an Australian actor, a film director at the BBC. Ellen and Richard Hammerschlag; Angry Arts; End of a Tactic. 1969 Dead End of Movement. Use film. Tony gave up BBC to start a film company. Camden festival. Showed tape and slide and films. 1970 Anniversary of Education. Parents association, plan space for children. Painted bridge, Mill Lane. Filmed in 16mm. Start or production of Liberation Films. 1966 Expelled from Communist Party. Wrote poetry at Oxford. Sought out YCL. Asked a policeman. Peter Fryer. 1971/2 Local Authority Community Development. Local films about areas.

Voice overs. Greater London Arts Association (GLAA). Project Octopus. Event ln a festival. Poplar. Video. Gulbenkian grant. Tony Sickert getting paid. Peter Brinson. Non-profit company, Liberation; Sue Crockford; Aubrey Shyam, dentist. GLAA £8000. Films on tooth decay. Recruited people to do their own videos. Fly a Flag for Poplar. 1976 London Film Festival. Balham. Traffic Crossing. Open Door series. Plumstead with local theatre.

SIDE TWO

Filming, being a doctor, three children. Peterhead. Glasgow. You can still be beautiful. Caroline Goldie. Luton, filmed by West German TV. Sound man married Caroline. Sheffield. Jenny Ferrugg. Trigger films.

Film on VD. Health Education Council on smoking. Paul Soto. Ivan Strasburg. Films for schools, training schools. Derrick Knight and Brenda. Concord [Film & Video Council, Ipswich] distributed. The Professionals Birmingham dentists. Nurses at Royal Free [Hospital]. Pitmans distributed. Lots of Trigger Films. Arts Council. Mural Movement. Morgan's Wall Film. Tony went back to Australia. Break up of Liberation. Health education changed under new government. "You can still be beautiful". Dan Whistler. Brent Active Pensioners. New video. Film on blood pressure. Sue Crockford. General secretary of Socialist Medical Association. Lee Jeans’ strike video.

Tape 2, SIDE THREE

CinemaAction. BFI Production Board. Peter Sainsbury, changing in documentary films. Present activity [1998]

[END]

Transcript

Biographical

Early Life & Background

Marie Richman was born in 1934 in the United Kingdom (her father was a hospital porter) and grew up in Leeds. historyproject.org.uk
She married in 1954, and together with her husband (born 1932) they had three children. historyproject.org.uk
Her political engagement began early: her husband joined the Communist Party and the Young Communist League; Marie herself became involved in left-wing activism (for example in 1968 she was Honorary Treasurer of the North West London branch of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign). historyproject.org.uk

Film & Activism Career

Marie Richman worked in film and television through a company called Liberation Films (UK). Her work was often in the area of educational/trigger films (short films used to provoke discussion), health-education films, community development videos and social-justice oriented material. historyproject.org.uk
Some of her documented film work includes:
- A film on tooth decay commissioned by the Health Education Council in the UK. historyproject.org.uk
- Community-based video projects: local authority community development films (circa 1971-72) with local residents capturing their own environment (e.g., films in Poplar, Plumstead) under grants from the Greater London Arts Association. historyproject.org.uk
Her style tended to emphasise collaboration with local communities, giving participants a voice, and linking film practice to broader social/political movements (health, environment, working class communities). According to her oral interview, she worked in 16mm film, then shifted later to video as technology developed. historyproject.org.uk

Significance & Impact

Marie Richman is part of a generation of British filmmakers who bridged the gap between mainstream documentary/travel films and community/educational film practice. Through her work she contributed to:
- Health education: using film as a medium to engage audiences (for example on smoking, VD, tooth decay).
- Community empowerment: involving local people in the production, enabling them to document their lived environment (e.g., “Fly a Flag for Poplar”).
- Left-wing politics: leveraging film as a tool for social change, reflecting her activist background.
While she may not be widely known in mainstream film-history, her archived interview with the British Entertainment History Project (Interview No. 437) is an important source for scholars of British educational and activist film. historyproject.org.uk

Later Years & Legacy

The interview with the British Entertainment History Project was conducted on 9 July 1998, and gives a retrospective account of her career to that date. historyproject.org.uk
The shift of the health education/trigger-film sector under government policy changes (in the UK) impacted many of the independent film companies she worked with, including Liberation Films. According to her interview notes: “Break up of Liberation. Health education changed under new government” (ca. late 1970s-80s). historyproject.org.uk
Her archive, testimony and the films she helped make remain a resource for researchers interested in alternative film practice, community video and the intersection of film + social justice in Britain.

Selected Projects (examples)

You can still be beautiful – a film on a health-education topic (circa 1970s) directed or produced through Liberation Films. historyproject.org.uk
Fly a Flag for Poplar – a community film project involving local theatre and video in Poplar, London. historyproject.org.uk
Series of short films on traffic crossing, pensioners, blood-pressure etc. – showing the range of topics she engaged with in community / public-service film.