Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Processing Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Paul Rotha papers
Creator:
Rotha, Paul
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2001
Physical Description:
42 Linear Feet
(84 boxes and 7 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1914-1980
Abstract: Paul Rotha (1907-1984) was a film critic, documentary filmmaker, and movie director. The collection consists of materials
related to Rotha's documentary and feature films and Rotha's books on the cinema.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Paul Rotha papers (Collection 2001). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Motley Books, Limited, purchase, 1967. Paul Rotha, purchase, 1980.
Processing Information
Processed by Library Special Collections staff, 1999. Container listings for boxes 1-65 and 86-91 compliled by Selina Portera,
2020 based on existing paper inventories.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
located on our website:
Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special
Collections.
Biography
Paul Rotha was born in London, England on June 3, 1907; a former painter and designer, he became a film critic and wrote a
seminal work on cinema history titled,
The film till now (1930); began making his own documentary films in association with John Grierson and was a leading figure in the British
documentary movement of the 1930s and 1940s; directed three feature films in the 1950-60s; writings include:
Documentary film (1935),
Rotha on the film (1958), and
The innocent eye: A biography of Robert Flaherty (1963); died on March 7, 1984.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of projects, early treatments, narration scripts, technical plans and shooting scripts for Mr. Rotha's
documentary and feature films. Also includes manuscript, typescript, and proof copies of Rotha's books on the cinema along
with clippings of his periodical writings and review articles. Reviews and articles on Rotha are both loose and in scrapbooks.
Includes Rotha's personal diaries as well as correspondence from John Grierson, Eric Knight, and Richard Griffith, among others.
There are art works from the 1920s, photographs (mostly location stills), and recording tapes from Rotha's films.
Arrangement
Collection maintains the exiting order of materials upon transfer to UCLA.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Motion picture producers and directors -- Archives.
Screenwriters -- Archives.
Film critics -- Archives.