The Jamaica Film Unit's Parables, 1951-1957: Orphans of Independence The Jamaica Film Unit (later Jamaica Information Service) produced a body of nonfiction films that includes features on Jamaican history and culture, archival footage of historical events, interviews, travelogues, musical and dance performances, and documentaries. While the majority of these films may be of limited international importance for now, a small group of what I call cine-parables, produced between 1951 and 1957, stand out. As story-documentaries with a message, the Unit’s parables are on the border between fiction and documentary, not being entirely satisfying as either, especially now that their immediate pedagogical purpose has passed. The Unit’s 41 films between 1951 and 191 constitute a critical fraction of the audiovisual materials at the National Library of Jamaica, whose “holdings include 3.5 million feet of 16mm film that is currently being digitized and cataloged” [http://www.nlj.org.jm/collections.htm#audiovisual] and they need to re-vived and re-examined both in terms of national filmmaking expressions in Jamaica and international film history. What can be gleaned from these parables now that they are orphans? vity and a positive national image; the films employ voiceover and direct address to the viewer; they are further characterized by use of non-actors as well as professional actors, and real locations in Jamaica; characters embody behaviors and recognizable types in what audiences would have considered everyday scenarios to which they could relate easily. Rennalls viewed the Unit’s films as teaching tools in keeping with “the forward movement of the country toward self-government and the goal and of the production unit was to produce films in Jamaica for Jamaicans and by Jamaica |