Humphrey Jennings was born in 1907 and educated at Cambridge University. He is recognised as one of Britain's greatest film-makers. His studies of national life made for the GPO Film Unit, the Crown film Unit and the Ministry of information before and during the Second World War include Listen to Britain (1941), Fires Were Started (1943) and Diary for Timothy (1945), films which are both invaluable records of their time and cinematic masterpieces. Part of the richness of the films is attributed to the wide range of interests and talents which Jennings brought to his subject matters. He was a poet and literary critic and a gifted painter of the Surrealist movement. In 1936 he played a key role in organising the International Surrealist Exhibition in London. He was also a founder member of the anthropological movement Mass Observation. Humphrey Jennings career was cut short when he died in an accident in 1950.