National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales preserves and celebrates the sound and moving image heritage of Wales, making it accessible to a wide range of users for enjoyment and learning. Its film collection reflects every aspect of the nation’s social, cultural and working life across the 20th century, giving a fascinating insight into Welsh filmmaking, both amateur and professional.
This film is part of Free
Call Us by Name
The Royal National Institute for the Blind [RNIB] celebrates its centenary with a promotional film written and directed by Cardiff writer Bernice Rubens.
From the collection of:
Overview
Bernice Rubens, born into the Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant community in Cardiff, became a documentary film-maker and a Booker Prize-winning novelist. She made this film for the Royal National Institute for the Blind [RNIB] to commemorate its centenary in 1968. Blind or partially-sighted people of all ages are seen at home or at various schools or training centres, their comments comprising the commentary and showing their different approaches to their situations.
The composer Joseph Horovitz, who knew Bernice Rubens well, was asked by her to provide several short music sections for this film. He based the sections on Luther’s hymn ‘A stronghold sure is our God’, retaining the main outline but adding a jazz-influenced rhythmic flavour as an accompaniment, to reflect the optimistic purpose of the film.
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