Public Domain Movies
Running Time: 30 mins Black & White
Starring: Narrated by Irving Rusinow
This important film focuses on the experimental project most responsible for taking millions of public dollars away from textbook producers, and delivering it into the hands of educational film companies. The result? The blossoming of the academic film movement in the U.S., a filmmaking renaissance that changed the way curriculum was discussed and taught in North America. Here we visit the classroom that toppled the textbook companies, at Mercer Elementary School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Our host is Principal Alice Van Deusen, joined by teacher Mimi Weber. Weber illustrates the process of starting and stopping the projector during lessons, and instructs her students on the use of film and film strip projectors.