The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, [1] it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to …

Created in 1933, the GPO Film Unit was one of the most remarkable creative institutions that Britain ever produced. The flagship of the GPO Film Unit's output and a cornerstone of British documentary, featuring music by Benjamin Britten and the verse of W.H. Auden. Part experimental cinema, part advert for the parcel post service, always joyful.

The GPO Film Unit was established in 1933 and over the years became renowned for pioneering the production of classic documentaries. 'Night Mail' (1936) was produced by John Grierson with verse by W H Auden. This early documentary showed the Postal Special's nightly run from London to Scotland.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, the GPO Film Unit became the Crown Film Unit, and its morale-boosting mode was effectively nationalised, a move which resulted in the production of patriotic wartime classics such as London Can Take It (1940), Target for Tonight (1941) and Listen to Britain (1942).

The pioneering GPO Film Unit represents the start of what is now widely regarded as the beginnings of the British Documentary Movement and the first self-conscious attempt to create a British national cinema.

Most of the documentary films produced by the GPO film unit reflected the political views and ideology of the documentary film movement. Under the government's film unit, the filmmakers found a space to experiment and develop the filmic language in order to express themselves in a …

Dec 5, 2011 · GPO, which began its operations in England in 1660, was a government run agency responsible for the mail, and later also telephone and telegrams, in Britain and across the British Empire. The Film Unit was established in 1933, with the initial aim of explaining to the public what the GPO was all about.

Created 75 years ago out of the ashes of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit, the GPO Film Unit was one of the most remarkable creative institutions that Britain has produced. A hotbed of creative energy and talent, it provided a springboard to many of the best-known and critically acclaimed figures in the British Documentary Movement.

A tongue in cheek drama which portrays how news of a general reduction in GPO charges was finally brought to parliament and the people despite attempts by the country's enemies to prevent the announcement.

Colour fantasy of a man standing in a rainbow, made to promote Post Office savings. A Cornish village story is used to promote the Post Office Savings Bank. The principles of magnetism and electricity as applied to the transmission of speech by telephone.