Filmland’s Forgotten Man: Paul Rotha and Reputation Studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Filmmakers’ reputations rise, fall, and reach different audiences due to a range of interrelated factors, which include interpersonal reputational networks that form during their lifetime, and may or may not expand after their death. The decline in Paul Rotha’s reputation, from widespread acknowledgment of his role as a leading British documentary filmmaker during the 1940s to an overlooked figure now, apart from some limited academic interest, is a case in point. This essay traces the multiple factors—social, cultural, and individual—that need to be considered to fully assess the rise and fall of filmmakers’ reputations.