Films in PostWar Britain, March 18, 2011.

Sources;
http://www.totalfilm.com/shadows-of-progress-documentary-films-in-post-war-britain-1951-77

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216205/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Williams

The Shadow of Progress, a British documentary directed and written by Derek Williams in 1970, outlines the pollution of natural resources and the misuse of technology in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s. It was a multi-award winning documentary and its main focus was on environmental issues, which are directly connected with the increase of industrialization (which is what would have made the society more technologically advanced and expanded the consumer industry) as well as the need for greater energy as technology advanced. This connects back to the song "Lost in the Supermarket", by the Clash, as that song outlines the increasingly superfluous nature of the consumer industry. It is also known that with time came cars that required more fuel, bigger stores were being built, and the nature of innovation and change affected the quality of life for many people, but with this came the beginning of environmental concerns. The use of the word "progress" in the title of this documentary does represent the known progress in Britain and the negative side of industrialization, and the fact that the society was becoming more technologically advanced and innovative, which is related to the consumer industry and its changes, but the idea of the documentary is actually the OTHER side of it, as it outlines the effect that these changes had on the environment, hence the word "shadow" in the title (it was the hidden side of the progress that most were not giving as much mind to). So in a way, this documentary does demonstrate the mindset of Britain at the time, since the director of this documentary felt the need to bring to light the effects of "progress" that were taking place, giving the public the other side.

"The film exposed the consequences of industrialisation, particularly with regard to pollution, though coming prior to the identification of global warming, its focus is more on the visual impact and damage to wild-life and the lived environment. Over 1,900 copies of the film were printed and circulated in a number of languages and the film was twice shown by the BBC on prime time."