The Seafarers

Authors:Stanley Kubrick (Director), Don Hollenbeck (Narrator), Lester Cooper (Producer), Will Chasan (Screenwriter), Seafarers' International Union of North America Atlantic and Gulf District, AFL-CIO Department of Education, Indian Relay Films (Firm)

Summary:"In 1951, a twenty-three year old New Yorker, Stanley Kubrick, began his film career by directing and filming the black and white RKO newsreels Day of the Flight and The Flying Padre. These short films brought the aspiring director little notoriety, but they proved essential to developing his technique and securing financing his first feature length film, the ill-fated Fear and Desire in 1953. The same year, Kubrick was commissioned by the Seafarers International Union to film a documentary extolling the benefits of membership of the Seafarers Union. The film marked his first exploration into color cinematography. Kubrick provided his own sound and camera equipment and marshaled the Seafarers Log editorial staff as his crew. The film's design was to showcase the Seafarers Union service to its members and to recruit young men into a life at sea by explaining the benefits and job security of being part of a union. In the decades that followed, aspiring directors would hone their technique in specialized film schools, but for the young Kubrick, the short documentaries he made were his film school."--Container