§ Mr. HUTCHISONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any progress has been made with the scheme for providing and censoring films for native consumption in the undeveloped parts of the British Empire; and, if so, whether he can give any indication as to the type of such films which have been officially approved?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERI assume that my hon. Friend has in mind the committee nominated some years ago by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to assist the British United Film Producers Company, Limited, in the selection of suitable films for exhibition in the Colonies. That scheme was not specially designed to provide and censor films for exhibition to natives in the undeveloped parts of the British Empire, and no project having that particular object is in existence. In fact, each Colonial Government is responsible for the censorship of films to be exhibited within its territory.1714W My hon. Friend may be interested to know, however, that an experiment financed by the Carnegie Corporation is about to be carried out in the British dependencies in East Africa under the auspices of the International Missionary Council and the British Film Institute and with the cordial co-operation of myself and the Colonial Governments concerned, with a view to investigating and providing the types of film most suitable for exhibition to natives in these territories.