Readers Recall Global Reach of British Film Distributor Contemporary Films

The Guardian has published letters from readers responding to a September 1 article by Andrew Pulver marking 75 years of Contemporary Films, the British distributor founded by Charles Cooper that brought world cinema to the UK. The letters, published September 7, describe the company's influence beyond Britain's borders.

According to one letter, filmmaker Ross Devenish wrote that Contemporary Films had an impact on him in South Africa before he traveled to London to study filmmaking in 1959. Devenish said that as an 18-year-old in Johannesburg, he discovered the Johannesburg Film Society, which relied on Contemporary Films' distribution network to screen international films.

Devenish specifically cited Satyajit Ray's film Pather Panchali, which the society was able to show through Contemporary Films' distribution systems. He said the film has remained in his memory while many others he saw around the same time have not.

The original article referenced in the letters, titled "'Not just Hollywood crap': Mike Leigh on the East End communist who brought world cinema to the UK," examined Cooper's role in introducing international cinema to British audiences over the company's 75-year history.

Another letter writer, Kal Hodgson, referenced the Manchester and Salford Film Society in connection with the original article, according to the source material, though further details of that letter were not included in the excerpt reviewed.

The letters illustrate how Contemporary Films' distribution efforts, which began in Britain, extended their reach to film societies and audiences in other countries, including South Africa, during the mid-20th century.