 Both
an entrepreneur and a bohemian, Ivens had always been fascinated
with American culture. Indeed, he had written a script for
his first movie, The Tepee (De Wigwam), after seeing
a D. W. Griffith film on the American Indian. America still
held this attraction for Ivens when he arrived in the United
States in 1936. Having just left the Soviet Union where
the communist authorities had attempted to censor his film
projects, he found America to be an exciting place. Ivens,
quickly losing what prejudices he may have had about America,
found himself quickly accepted by the small cadre of documentary
filmmakers in New York City. At first, he attempted to sustain
himself by giving lectures and through the sales and showings
of his films.
 And
initially, it appeared that he faced good prospects in America.
The Museum of Modern Arts purchased two of his films. His
films were also favorably and his films reviewed. “Joris
Ivens is a name that is practically unknown over here,”
Otis Ferguson wrote in a lengthy review in The New Republic
(April 15, 1936). “He arrived here recently,”
Ferguson added, “bringing some of his work with him.
It turns out to be very good work.” Rain,
Ferguson noted, “is about nothing but a shower coming
up and passing over and the sun showing again, and really
lovely.” But his favorite, this reviewer wrote, was
New Earth, Ivens’s documentary on the story
of the damming of the Zuiderzee. At the film’s final
resolution, Ferguson noted, the audience had broken into
spontaneous applause. “Like the rest of Ivens’
films (being shown around by the New Film Alliance),”
the reviewer concluded, “it is more exciting than
rapid fiction, and twice as beautiful.”
And even the Tennessee Valley Authority,
on the recommendation of Sidney Bernstein, was interested
in Ivens. On April 20, 1936, Herbert S. Marks of the TVA
wrote Ivens that they were “anxious to see your work,
and because of the interest you express in the possibility
of making a TVA picture, they would like to talk to you
about TVA’s plans for films.” “Naturally,
because of the nature of the TVA project,” Marks added,
in a note, “your ‘New Earth’ interests
us most of all your work.” In reply, Ivens on May
15, 1936 forwarded reviews of his work and added that he
was shortly “to leave for the coast for about a month
to do some very interesting work” and that he hoped
to stop by in Tennessee on the way back.
Ivens then left for Hollywood, which will
be for him both a irresistible attraction - for its creative
energy and money - and a repellant - for its frivolous films
and blatant commercialism. Life as a pioneering documentary
film maker, particularly for one who had never been particularly
materialistic, was not easy. Things did not go well financially
for Ivens on his trip to California. While in Hollywood,
he was compelled to live off the generosity of his friends.
In a poignant hand-written letter he wrote the TVA on June
26, 1936, Ivens confessed that he would have great difficulty
in coming up with his travel costs to Knoxville. “You
ask me to be honest about my financial position,”
Ivens wrote, “so I have to inform you that I have
to live from the lectures and showings I give with my films.”
“And now in the summer, the possibilities are very
little to organize lectures,” he added, “so
I have no money.” “That is not easy,”
Ivens noted, “and the prints begin to worn [sic] out
so I must save some money to have in September new prints,
and I don’t know how.” “I am tired of
being always a guest from friends here, you understand this
of course,” Ivens added, “and I do not even
know if it was good to refuse every work here that hurts
my independence.” Would it be possible, he asked,
to have a public showing in Tennessee or was “the
group of people who is interested in this kind of film to[o]
small in Knoxville?” Could the TVA pay the fare from
Hollywood to Knoxville? “I hope to get soon an answer
about all these questions,” Ivens added, “you
must excuse me, but my bad financial situation forced me
to put them before you.” Ivens’ candid letter
elicited some sympathy. Forrest Allen, an Assistant Coordinator
for the TVA, wrote in a handwritten note to his colleague:
“Thanks- He’s pretty close-hulled isn’t
he? Men who cherish their independence to this degree pay
a high price.”
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