At the Autumn River Camp: Part 1, Quentin Brown, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

At the Autumn River Camp. This 60s film, made as part of the “Man: A Course of Study” series, shows us Netsilik Eskimos demonstrating traditional ways of life and survival in a frigid Arctic world where the average temperature is -10° F, and everything freezes eventually. This is all presented without commentary, and without any translation of the language the people are speaking. The action is beautifully filmed and although these activities were supposed to be recreations of old ways no longer completely practiced, it all looks very convincing and realistic, though I sometimes wish there was some explanation of the purposes for some of the less obvious activities. This was supposed to be shown in 5th grade classrooms, and it must have been a real departure from the sort of films usually shown in grade school at that time. Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****+. Overall Rating: ****.

Better Reading

Better Reading . Teenager Harold Wilson has a problem—he can’t read for (expletive deleted). So he has to spend all his free time studying ...