The Tide of Traffic


The Tide of Traffic is a 1972 British short documentary film directed and written by Derek Williams. It was made by British Petroleum as a contribution to the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. Filming locations were Venice, Rome, London and New York.

Reception

She magazine wrote: "This BP film is one of the best I have seen and should collect equally prestigious prizes. It presents every facet of the autocratic rule of the motor vehicle. Motoring, says the film, is at once a means to reach places of recreation and a recreation in itself. The car offers a kind of freedom and it is the dream of most families to own one a better one, or a second one. Moving, the vehicle is less trouble than when it stops: the parked car demands 30 times the space of a standing person! All this and much more is shown in this wide-ranging and intelligent film."

Accolades

The film receved a Venice Golden Mercury award, and was nominated for the 1973 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.